The UFC returns for their first event of 2022 as UFC Vegas 46 takes place this Saturday, January 15th 2022, from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The main event pairs two top-10 featherweights as Calvin Kattar returns after a year absence to take on the rising contender, Giga Chikadze.
We take a look at a preview of what the main card of UFC Vegas 46 will consist of.
Calvin Kattar vs Giga Chikadze
A year after suffering a career devastating loss at the hands of Max Holloway, Calvin Kattar returns in the first card of the year, similar to how he did last year against Holloway.
On the other side, his opponent Giga Chikadze had a strong showing in 2021 as he looks to add another loss to Kattar’s record to solidify his positioning as the next title threat at 145 lbs.
Kattar vs. Chikadze is a fun march up with Kattar specializing with his boxing work whereas Chikadze is renowned for his kickboxing prowess. What’s guaranteed is this fight will be decided in a stand-up showing. The MMASucka Podcast crew gave your a short preview to this bout and each man’s keys to victory in the latest episode, check it out below:
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
In a rematch from their fight back at UFC 244 in 2019, Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia look to run it back. Their previous fight saw Chookagian defeat Maia via decision and this time both women look to get back in the title hunt.
Both women have recently lost to current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko with Maia being the most recent to fall to the champion which would make sense to put both flyweight contenders against each other.
Elsewhere on the UFC Vegas 46 Card
Brandon Royval looks to get back in the win column as he takes on Rogerio Bontorin.
Royval is 2-2 since joining the UFC getting a win over Tim Elliot in his debut, following that up with a win against Kai Kara–France, only to lose his next two to Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja.
Rogerio Bontorin is coming off a win against Matt Schnell at UFC 262 and looks to continue to build off that momentum against Royval.
Chase Sherman takes on Jake Collier in a heavyweight clash, after the opener of the night displays a featherweight bout between Joanderson Brito and Bill Algeo.
Kevin Croom steps in on late notice at featherweight to face off against Brian Kelleher. Kelleher’s original opponent had to withdraw from the bout. Likewise, the strawweight bout between Vanessa Demopoulos and Silvana Gómez Juárez has been rearranged for the UFC 270 card due to COVID protocols.
Featured Image
Embed from Getty Images
