Steve Garcia was known to be a talented fighter, but that talent may now be on another level after pulling off a strong victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC Nashville — guaranteeing him a spot in the featherweight rankings in the coming days.
Garcia controlled the action from the beginning with a mix of heavy leg kicks, wild combinations, and spinning attacks, overwhelming Kattar and making him crumble under the pressure.
Garcia continued to dictate the pace in the second, focused on body shots and bloodying Kattar up with his jab. Kattar tried to bring up the intensity with the vintage striking we’ve seen from him, but Garcia consistently got the better of him in every exchange.
Garcia turned up the aggression still in the third round, rocking Kattar with a left hand and body strikes, not letting up on the gas as he hunted for the finish. Kattar tried to rally back but was blocked again.
Garcia didn’t get the finish, which would have been his sixth straight KO/TKO, but he did sweep the judges’ scorecards.
Steve Garcia Scores Decision In All-Around Performance vs. Calvin Kattar At UFC Nashville
Youssef Zalal may have had his hand raised at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, but he believes achieving the win was made more difficult by some potential cheating.
But while he’s now won seven straight and can expect a high number next to his name come Tuesday’s rankings update, “The Moroccan Devil” wasn’t totally happy in the aftermath of his triumph.
During his post-fight press conference, Zalal appeared to accuse Kattar of cheating by greasing his body to ensure an advantage in grappling exchanges.
“This is the crazy part: We worked a lot of grappling, and I sh*t you not, I felt like there’s Vaseline all over his legs,” Zalal said. “I swear to God, he was the most slipperiest guy I’ve ever seen in my life, and I felt like I’m not trying to be that guy with this and that (excuse). But man, that was suspicious, bro.
“Nobody slides like that – that quick. I’ve fought a lot of good guys – Jack Shore and all those guys – and I felt when you’re dry and all that stuff, there’s no way. It is what it is. You can cheat the sport, you can do whatever you want.”
Youssef Zalal received the biggest opportunity of his career thus far when he took on Calvin Kattar in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 102. But while he scored a decision win, the result led to a mix of reactions from MMA fans.
Kattar tried to take control of the fight from the get-go, looking to blitz with the striking that led him to popularity during his Octagon career. Zalal, however, took advantage of that by using his footwork, keeping distance and landing counterstrikes.
Footwork and distance continued to use this strategy and found success, frustrating Kattar over the course of the remaining 10 minutes to win the fight across all three judges’ scorecards.
While some fans and media members felt it was excellent strategy, others were critical of the performance, stating Zalal would lose fans for the way he fought here.
Youseef Zalal Splits MMA Fanbase With Performance In Win Over Calvin Kattar
Zalal is the kind of guy who is a pretty good point fighter but won't ever draw a dime in his life because he fights like a pansy and it's transparent. I can't imagine that's a guy @danawhite wants ranked in the UFC
Not sure why people are hating so hard on Zalal, coming off three straight finishes and comfortably beating a top 10 opponent in his second stint with the promotion is impressive to me#UFCVegas102
Been really impressed with Zalal since his return, but he NEEDS to get rid of that habit of exiting laterally with hands down chin in air. He will get got by Topuria in a rematch, if he dosen’t on the way.#UFCVegas102
But “The Boston Finisher” hasn’t had his hand raised since. He fell on the wrong side of a contentious split decision against Josh Emmett, lost to Arnold Allen after tearing his ACL mid-fight, and most recently failed to spoil Aljamain Sterling’s featherweight debut at UFC 300.
With that losing skid in mind, Kattar will unsurprisingly be fighting down the pecking order in 2025. And should plans come to fruition, that’ll seemingly be against the charging Youssef Zalal (16-5-1).
Zalal exited the UFC in 2022 after going 0-3-1 across a four-fight run, in which he lost to Ilia Topuria, Seungwoo Choi, and Sean Woodson. But since working his way back with three wins on the regional scene, he’s been unstoppable.
UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar has given his take on champion Alexander Volkanovski accusing Max Holloway of faking an injury to avoid their trilogy fight.
Last month it was announced that Holloway, coming off a pair of memorable victories over Kattar and Yair Rodriguez in 2021, would be the next challenger to Volkanovski’s 145-pound reign. Since the Australian dethroned “Blessed” in December 2020 and subsequently defended the belt against him six months later, he’s retained the belt with a five-round win against Brian Ortega.
But just days after the trilogy was announced, it was off. Holloway withdrew after aggravating a previous injury. In his place, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung stepped up, and Volkanovski’s first appearance of 2022 got pushed back a month to UFC 273.
But in a surprising turn of events, ESPN recently reported that Holloway was back in training and eager to serve as a backup option for the April pay-per-view main event.
@BlessedMMA wants to be the backup fighter for the fight he was originally scheduled to fight.🤦🏻♂️ so in other words…he was never injured. Just hoping he doesn’t have to fight me or fight me while I’m preparing for someone…but hey “if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying”😆…NO
While others have also questioned the quick development from withdrawal to full training, #5-ranked featherweight contender Kattar believes it is “crazy” to suggest Holloway would dodge an opponent.
During a media scrum at UFC 271 this past weekend, “The Boston Finisher” was asked for his take on the matter. Having felt Holloway’s toughness first hand last January, Kattar doesn’t believe Holloway would fake an injury or avoid a fight, especially considering his willingness to face the returning Rodriguez last November.
“I’m not reading too much into it. I mean, as a fight fan, that would’ve been a good matchup, watching him and the champ go back at it, third time running it, especially after the last two,” Kattar said. “As far as what got him ready (to be backup) and whatnot, I’m not reading too far into that.
“I feel like to question Max, man, it’s kind of crazy. He took the Yair fight when he didn’t really need to,” Kattar continued. “He was next in line for the champ anyway, but he took it. The champ and Max, I think, are two guys that don’t really dodge anybody and wanna fight the best guys in the world, so I got a lot of respect for them.”
With Holloway’s recovery and availability for April, it stands to reason “Blessed” will get another chance to reclaim the 145-pound gold later this year. But for now, it’s the turn of UFC veteran “The Korean Zombie.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZnhjU5tQNd/
Do you agree with Calvin Kattar’s take on Max Holloway’s withdrawal and recovery?
Despite their recent social media banter, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski didn’t even consider Giga Chikadze a potential next opponent.
Chikadze fell to Calvin Kattar at UFC Vegas 46 via unanimous decision and left the Octagon bloodied and battered by Kattar’s boxing. He had won nine straight fights entering the bout.
Volkanovski was supposed to face Max Holloway for his next title defense before Holloway pulled out due to an injury. Chikadze had been one of the first featherweight contenders who threw his name into the conversation after news broke of Holloway’s withdrawal.
Volkanovski and the UFC opted to give Chan Sung Jung, otherwise known as ‘The Korean Zombie’, the next title shot as a replacement. This irked Chikadze and created quite the tension between him and the champion.
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Volkanovski revealed whether or not he would’ve considered facing Chikadze next if he got the better of Kattar.
“Mate, to be honest, when he was carrying (I thought) not only does he have to win to even start talking, you know, let’s try and get out of that fight unscathed before you even ask, but then, I still don’t think he’d deserve it,” Volkanovski said. “Remember, he’s ranked #8. He was ranked #8 and he was fighting #5… He’s so surprised that I’m fighting Zombie; these guys (contenders for the title shot) are ranked higher than him, (and) were gonna be ranked higher than him even if he won. It just doesn’t make sense. Yeah you’ve got a winning streak, but let’s fight some contenders, let’s fight some top guys, and you did and look what happened.”
In the buildup to UFC Vegas 46, Chikadze blasted Volkanovski as a “chump” and alluded to losing respect for the 145-pound champion. After his loss to Kattar, he’ll likely need to go on another winning streak to get back into the featherweight title discussion.
If Volkanovski beats Jung, the UFC will more than likely attempt to book the Holloway trilogy again. For now, it appears that Chikadze is a long way off from getting a title shot against Volkanovski.
Do you think we’ll ever see Alexander Volkanovski vs. Giga Chikadze?
UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar has responded to Giga Chikadze’s claim that he’d beat “The Boston Finisher” nine times out of 10.
For Chikadze, the one exception came in the opening UFC main event of 2022 this past weekend. “Ninja” faced top-five 145lber Kattar in what was the Methuen native’s first appearance since his brutal defeat to Max Holloway last January.
Despite having a tough and proven name who represented the biggest challenge of his career to date in front of him, a lot of Chikadze’s focus and attention during fight week appeared to be elsewhere. After Alexander Volkanovski was left needing a challenger to his title after the withdrawal of Holloway, the Georgian threw his name into the hat and repeatedly accused the champion of running from him.
“I feel like if I would fight with this guy 10 times, 9 I would win,” Chikadze said. “That would be the one I would lose and that was last night. It is what it is. I made mistake and I’m paying now with it. It’s all good. Guys, I’m unbreakable. Remember this shit, Georgians always unbreakable. This is how we fight, until the fucking end.”
Kattar Responds With Class
Hearing those comments from a man you’ve just beaten the face off for 25 minutes would understandably elicit a strong response from most members of the UFC roster. But for Kattar, the only response was class.
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Kattar said he hadn’t taken Chikadze’s comments personally. Instead, the #5-ranked featherweight wished his fallen opponent a quick recovery and encouraged the Georgian to handle the loss well.
“No, no, it’s different when you hear people in person in interviews, but I don’t take it personal, man,” said Kattar. “It’s whatever, you know, wish him a speedy recovery, bounce back. I told him all you can do now is make the next guy pay. That’s exactly what I did. And hopefully, he responds to the loss well. It doesn’t sound like it’s going that way early, but hopefully he just understand that—honestly he can understand whatever he wants. For me, it helped me to just focus on the things that I can control and focus on the comeback but not so much really the last one.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYrkHx7PerX/
Having rebounded in style following a year away from the Octagon, Kattar will now look to continue his charge to the title, which was stalled by Holloway in 2021. Next up on his road to the top will likely be either Yair Rodriguez or Brian Ortega, who are coming off losses to the top-two featherweights in the division.
What did you make of Giga Chikadze’s comments after his loss to Calvin Kattar?
When “The Korean Zombie” was touted as the likely candidate to face the champion next, Chikadze claimed he’d lost respect for the champion and even suggested Volkanovksi would be his easiest opponent inside the 145-pound top 10. But through all that talk, one man is being forgotten: Calvin Kattar.
With the result, Kattar shot back towards contention and stalled the surging rise of Chikadze, who was previously riding high off the back of a main event win against Edson Barboza.
But while many had expected “Ninja” to move past Kattar and stake his claim for a title shot, the message from fans and pundits since Saturday’s headliner has been: Don’t look past what’s in front of you. That message had already been said loud and clear at UFC Vegas 46 media day last Wednesday.
After asserting that Chikadze’s focus on gold and exchanges with the titleholder had no effect on him, Kattar warned the #8-ranked contender that setting his sights on anyone other than him would be a “big mistake.”
“No, not one bit man. I can’t really control that, so I try not to put too much energy into it. Only thing I can control is me and my opponent Saturday night. For him to be focusing on anybody else would be a big mistake,” Kattar said.
Given the state of Chikadze’s face after 25 minutes of action, it’s safe to say Kattar’s warning was well placed…
While his toughness has never been in doubt, Kattar certainly had his title credentials and place among the featherweight elite questioned following his defeat on Fight Island last year. But at UFC Vegas 46, “The Boston Finisher” answered those questions with sharp elbows and crisp punches.
With a relieving rebound win after a year away from action, Kattar will now look to carry his momentum into another big fight, perhaps this time against a fellow top-five contender. Two men currently stand out as possible next opponents.
Brian Ortega was the last man to challenge for the title and could provide a thrilling matchup with Kattar. While he’d be looking to rebound and stay in the title conversation, the Methuen native would hope to book a date with the champ by defeating the two-time title challenger
Yair Rodriguez is also in a similar situation. He returned last November and despite performing well against Holloway, he missed out on the chance to challenge Volkanovski after a narrow defeat on the scorecards. With both losing to Holloway in 2021, a clash between Kattar and Rodriguez makes sense.
Who would you like to see Calvin Kattar face next?
Giga Chikadze’s confidence remains intact after his brutal defeat to Calvin Kattar last Saturday at UFC Vegas 46.
At UFC Vegas 46, Calvin Kattar showed his resilience by rebounding from the year-opening card of last year that saw him take a savage beating from Max Holloway. This time, it was him dishing out the beating across five rounds to kick off the year, with Chikadze’s face at the conclusion of the bout telling the tale of how the fight transpired.
Giga Chikadze
Seeing as how, prior to UFC Vegas 46, Chikadze was vocal about fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the title next, including preemptively requesting to replace Max Holloway against him this spring, many people thought this was a humbling experience for Chikadze.
One notable person to react to Chikadze’s loss was Chan Sung Jung, aka “The Korean Zombie,” who was ultimately chosen to replace Holloway for the featherweight title fight in a move that Chikadze criticized as Volkanovski selecting the easy fight. After Chikadze’s loss on Saturday, Jung hit him with the ol’ face-palm emoji on social media.
Chikadze would issue the following statement in response to the criticism he received immediately following the fight and also addressed The Korean Zombie’s reaction to his defeat.
Thank you my real supporters! I love you all and owe you speed comeback. Lot of fake people around, but it’s okay. Also fuck you Korean Zombie! Be happy with someone’s (loss) you cheap fuck,” Chikadze wrote.
Giga Chikadze would have much more to say later in a Facebook Live after the fight. The Georgian chalked the loss up to an error on his part and vowed to return after making the necessary adjustments.
“It is what it is,” Chikadze said on Facebook Live. “It was not my day, but it’s okay. Sometimes it happens, shit. It was a good fight. My opponent showed up good. I made mistake…
“I’m gonna recover a little bit, guys. I know you guys are following my journey, and this is a part of the journey. When I signed up for the sport, I knew this was a part (of it). I fucked up last night, but it’s all good. It’s a journey. I’m learning from this, and next time, I’m gonna come back so much stronger. I already feel bad for my future opponents. I’m gonna learn a lot from this one; trust me on that.”
Chikadze also displayed the same confidence about a future matchup against Kattar that he had coming into their UFC Vegas 46 bout. In fact, the Georgian would imply that Kattar’s victory Saturday was tantamount to a fluke based on him chalking the loss up to a mistake and considering his assessment of how a 10-fight series between them would play out.
“I feel like if I would fight with this guy 10 times, 9 I would win,” Chikadze said. “That would be the one I would lose and that was last night. It is what it is. I made mistake and I’m paying now with it. It’s all good. Guys, I’m unbreakable. Remember this shit, Georgians always unbreakable. This is how we fight, until the fucking end.”
What are your thoughts on Giga Chikadze’s comments following UFC Vegas 46?
UFC President Dana White thinks the public counted out Calvin Kattar ahead of his main event bout against Giga Chikadze.
Kattar walked away with a unanimous decision win over Chikadze on Saturday night, clearing scorecards after a brawl against a fellow ranked featherweight. The win saw him emerge as the better striker, hurting Chikadze with a high volume of shots.
This impressive showing from Kattar came after a week where Chikadze was viewed by many as the expected winner. He was even in discussion to step in on short notice to replace Max Holloway in a title fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
White feels that people didn’t give Kattar enough of a chance before the fight. He discussed how we have seen Kattar’s toughness in his previous appearance and how he has proven himself before.
“It’s almost like everybody forgot about Calvin Kattar and [his fight against] Max Holloway. Everybody counted him out tonight. I thought that the spinning elbow he landed changed the fight. I think that first round wrestling tired them out,” said White, speaking at the post-fight press conference on Saturday.
“They just dug in and went to war … [Kattar] kept constant pressure on him. He stayed in his face. He kept him moving backwards. It looked like Giga was out of it halfway through the second round.”
White: Kattar’s Layoff Helped Him
The win on Saturday night was Kattar’s first appearance in nearly a year. He was fighting for the first time in 364 days, appearing for the first time since he was on the losing side of a dominant performance by Max Holloway.
White thought the extensive break for Kattar worked in his favor because of how his last fight went.
“I think after that fight he had with Max [Holloway], you gotta take a year off. I think you have to … He absolutely, positively needed to take that time off,” said White.
The Pulse of MMA: Fan Reactions To The Sport’s Biggest Stories
In this installment of The Pulse of MMA, we look at the raw, unfiltered reactions from MMA fans to the result of Calvin Kattar’s unanimous decision victory over Giga Chikadze at UFC Vegas 46.
Calvin Kattar def. Giga Chikadze via Unannimous Decision At UFC Vegas 46
In the first UFC card of the year, the main event saw Calvin Kattar kick off the 2022 season with a victory in contrast to last year’s loss to Max Holloway that began 2021. It was Kattar’s pace, jabwork, and cage generalship that helped deliver the following official scorecards from the judges:
If you missed any of the action, you can catch the results and highlights from UFC Vegas 46 here. You can also see how the fighters reacted to the Kattar/Chikadze main event here.
What about the Pulse of MMA? How did they react to the main event results? You can peep the raw reactions down below!
Calvin Kattar just gave Giga Chikadze the same beating that Max Holloway gave him. Pretty big way to put your career right back on track
Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze was a worthy main event. The two fighters met in a bout on Saturday night (January 15, 2022) at the UFC Vegas 46 event from Las Vegas, Nevada at the UFC Apex facility.
An interesting start as Giga actually slipped and Calvin dove on top of him. Calvin worked him over with strikes from half guard. Giga did give up his back, but didn’t let him lock the rear-naked choke fully in. The second round was wild as both fighters hurt each other.
Calvin was putting together jabs and combos. Giga had a nice combo that included a head kick. Calvin did get a brief takedown to end the round. The third and fourth rounds saw them strike it out as Calvin was pushing forward and both were bloody.
At the end of round four, Calvin hurt him at the end of the round, but Giga survived. Calvin continued to put it on him and dropped him at the end of the round enroute to a decision win.
Let’s see how the fighters reacted to the outcome of this fight:
Kattar entered this fight after dropping a decision loss to Max Holloway in January 2021. Before that he had picked =up a decision win over Dan Ige in July 2020 and a TKO win over Jeremy Stephens at the UFC 249 pay-per-view event from Jacksonville, Florida at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. This was prior to him dropping a decision loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov at the UFC Moscow event and then Kattar blitzed Ricardo Lamas his way to victory at the UFC 238 pay-per-view event from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois where he won by TKO.
Chikadze was on a nine-fight winning streak heading into this bout including a TKO win over Edson Barboza in August 2021, decision wins over Irwin Rivera and Omar Morales. His previous fights saw him beat Jamey Simmons by TKO in November 2020 and Cub Swanson in May 2021 by TKO.
As we now know, Calvin Kattar did survive his fight against Max Holloway last year, but Dana White wasn’t so sure that would be the case while watching the fight.
One year ago immediately following the Holloway/Kattar fight, UFC President Dana White said thought the main event between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar should’ve been stopped after the fourth round.
In a video the UFC uploaded, it showed White freaking out thinking Kattar might die due to all the damage he sustained.
After the fourth round, White spoke to UFC executive Hunter Campbell and said he wanted Kattar to the hospital immediately after the fight.
“He took so much f*cking punishment in this fight, I’m freaking out a little bit, man. I don’t know. I don’t like it. This reminds me of the kind of fight where the fight’s over, and he walks out back and f*cking dies. I think that f*cking Herb Dean should’ve stopped it before the (fifth) round. He was wobbling all over the f*cking place,” White said on the UFC’s Grand Stage video.
“When we had him up against the cage, that’s when he had him,” Campbell said.
“He should have stopped the fight right there,” White said.
Kattar’s Manager Explains Non-Stoppage
Weeks later, Kattar’s manager, Tyson Chartier, offered the following explanation for why the fight was not stopped:
“It definitely did [get close to us stopping it],” Chartier stated to MMAFighting. “I’m sitting in the corner and every time things were getting really bad, Calvin’s back was to us, and we see Max, and we see Herb. There was a couple of times when we were like, ‘F*ck, is he gonna stop it?’ And I was hoping Herb would stop it. And then all of a sudden we saw he wasn’t going to stop it, we were like, ‘Should we throw in the towel?’ And then I’m thinking we’re gonna throw in the towel, and then Calvin would crack him. Then he would get off the fence and start landing shots. Like, damn it!”
“It definitely did [get close to us stopping it],” Chartier stated to MMAFighting. “I’m sitting in the corner and every time things were getting really bad, Calvin’s back was to us, and we see Max, and we see Herb. There was a couple of times when we were like, ‘F*ck, is he gonna stop it?’ And I was hoping Herb would stop it. And then all of a sudden we saw he wasn’t going to stop it, we were like, ‘Should we throw in the towel?’ And then I’m thinking we’re gonna throw in the towel, and then Calvin would crack him. Then he would get off the fence and start landing shots. Like, damn it!”
“There was one point in the fourth round where I looked at Jake [Mainini], the Muay Thai coach, and I was like, ‘Dude, Max is getting tired.’ It was crazy because he was beating us up, but you could see it in his eyes like, ‘Ughh,’ and then he tried to wrestle, tried to take us down, he was getting tired from beating us up and then Calvin landed a good shot again and the round ended.”
The good news was that Calvin Kattar ended up healing up his injuries and there was no significant life-altering damage. However, “The Boston Finisher” did sustain a plethora of injuries.
Tonight will be the first time he competes again since absorbing a record number of strikes from “Blessed.” He will be featured in the UFC Vegas 46 against another top-level striker, Giga Chikadze.
The weigh-in results for UFC Vegas 46 are in, and every fighter made weight, clearing the way for the first UFC card of 2022!
Saturday, January 15, 2022, UFC Vegas 46 will take place inside the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. The weigh-in results have all wrapped up and we’ll have those results to you shortly. But first, here’s a glimpse at the main event in store for fight fans tomorrow night.
Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze Preview
Calvin Kattar will once again be one of the two lead-off men to kick off the year for the UFC. Last year at UFC on ABC 1, Kattar faced Max Holloway and lost via unanimous decision. Despite the amount of punishment he took in the fight, Kattar says he would love to have a round 6 against “Blessed,” who Kattar believes to be the uncrowned champion of the featherweight division. But before then, he’ll have to deal with a “Ninja” by the name of Giga Chikadze.
Holloway was scheduled to have the opportunity to become re-crowned in a trilogy fight against Alexander Volkanovski, but he had to withdraw from the bout due to injury. Many names volunteered to replace Holloway, perhaps none louder than Chikadze, but Kattar did not join the list because he is eager to earn such opportunities by getting back in the win column following his one-sided loss to Holloway last year.
Calvin Kattar is ranked #5 in the featherweight division and has a professional record of 22-5. He is currently 0-2 in UFC main events, losing to Zabit Magomedsharipov via unanimous decision in 2019. However, both main events against Holloway and Magomedsharipov won Fight of the Night.
Giga Chikadze is currently ranked #8 at featherweight and is 14-2 as an MMA pro. He has won nine consecutive fights, and this will be his second consecutive main event. The last main event was his TKO victory over Edson Barboza last August in what earned him Performance of the Night.
You can catch the final face-off between tomorrow’s headliners below.
A 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 featherweight fight is set for your first main event of 2022 🔥@CalvinKattar takes on @Giga_Chikadze 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓!
UFC Vegas 46: Kattar vs. Chikadze Weigh-In Results
UFC Vegas 46 kicks off exclusively on ESPN+ at 5PM ET, 2PM PT. The main card will be simulcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ starting at 7PM ET, 4PM PT.
You can view the entire weigh-in results and lineup below, courtesy of UFC.com.
UFC Vegas 46 MAIN CARD (7:00 PM ET ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+)
Main Event – Featherweight Bout: Calvin Kattar (146) vs Giga Chikadze (146)
UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar is ready to put the ‘best boxer in the UFC’ debate to rest ahead of his matchup with Giga Chikadze.
Kattar is looking to get back in the featherweight title picture after his disappointing loss to Max Holloway nearly a year ago. He faces a tough task in Chikadze, an exciting Georgian prospect who has skyrocketed into the featherweight fold.
In addition to dominating Kattar, Holloway notably yelled “I’m the best boxer in the UFC!” while bobbing and weaving through his strikes. He would go on to win the fight via unanimous decision.
This sparked the debate of who the best UFC boxer is. Holloway, Sean O’Malley, Conor McGregor, and Petr Yan are just a few of the names who have been thrown into the conversation.
“Everyone’s catching onto that, ‘Who’s the best boxer in the UFC?’ I mean, who really gives a sh*t?” Kattar said. “This is martial arts. Yeah, you can box, but I mean, there’s elbows, there’s knees, there’s everything man. And if you wanna talk about who’s the best boxer, I mean, everyone’s got everyone’s card at some point, so, it’s just musical chairs at this point.”
The winner of the Kattar vs. Chikadze fight could get a featherweight title shot next. Alexander Volkanovski will face Chan Sung Jung (otherwise known as ‘The Korean Zombie’). Many threw their name in the hat when Holloway had to pull out of his trilogy with Volkanovski, but Kattar was not one of them.
Regardless of Kattar’s feelings, it seems that the best UFC boxer debate isn’t going away anytime soon. However, he has the opportunity to throw himself into the conversation with a win over Chikadze at UFC Vegas 46.
UFC featherweight contender Giga Chikadze is looking to prove that he’s not just an elite striker but also a well-rounded mixed martial artist.
Chikadze faces arguably the toughest test of his UFC career against Calvin Kattar at UFC Vegas 46. While Kattar is coming off of a tough loss to Max Holloway last year, he’s still regarded as one of the toughest brawlers in the featherweight division.
Chikadze knocked out the always-dangerous Edson Barboza in his last Octagon appearance but also showcased an improved grappling skillset in the win. He nearly had Barboza in trouble on the ground before transitioning back to his striking base.
“I feel like he’s going to mix it up with a bit of the wrestling,” Chikadze said. “I think that’s going to be his plan because he is from a wrestling background. Then he has some nice boxing techniques. Either he’s going to box with me, or he’s gonna wrestle with me.
“Honestly, I really want to show the people how great my ground game became. I want to submit people eventually, very soon, and start submitting people. But because Calvin Kattar has never been knocked out, it gives me a little bit more motivation to finish him with striking.”
Chikadze later explained why he moved away from his grappling in his last victory over Barboza.
“Last time I really had the chance to finish Edson with submission, but like I said, I had to prove that I’m the best striker and this was the reason why I let it go. This time? I said that I’m the best boxer in the UFC too, so probably I’m gonna still go more to the strikes. But if I get a chance like I did with Edson, this time I’m not going to let it go.”
Chikadze could be one win away from a featherweight title shot after going back-and-forth on social media with Alexander Volkanovski. If he’s able to continue to improve his overall game, he could be an unstoppable force at 145 pounds for years to come.
What is your prediction for Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar?
Despite taking a beating against Max Holloway last year, Calvin Kattar is ready and willing for some more rounds with the former UFC featherweight champion.
In the UFC Fight Island 7 headliner last January, Kattar had the chance to stake his claim for a title shot against former titleholder Holloway. But fresh off back-to-back losses to reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski, “Blessed” entered the Octagon that night with a point to prove. That point? “I’m the best boxer in the UFC.”
Across 25 minutes, Holloway broke record after record. To name a few, the Hawaiian set the UFC records for most significant strikes landed, most significant strikes attempted, highest significant strike differential, and most strikes landed in a single round. The result of those feats was a unanimous decision victory for Holloway and a beaten and bloodied face for Kattar.
Having sat out for the remainder of 2021, Kattar is set to return to the Octagon this weekend. Approaching the one-year anniversary of the memorable five-rounder, Kattar looked back on the clash during an appearance at UFC Vegas 46 media day on Wednesday.
While giving credit to Holloway for what is widely regarded as the greatest performance in the promotion’s history, Kattar noted that he ended the main event just how he started it, on his feet.
With that in mind, “The Boston Finisher” is eager for another crack at the #1-ranked featherweight contender down the line.
“I look at it (the Holloway fight) as much as I want to. It didn’t work out my way, but like I said man, I finished that fight the way I started, on my two feet. Props to Max, he fought a helluva fight, and I definitely walked away from that fight with an understanding of, kinda, what he was doing and things I’ll take in with me for not only my next fight, but future fights. I look forward to a round six with the uncrowned champ.”
Kattar Hopes To Rebound In UFC Vegas 46 Main Event
First and foremost, Kattar’s focus will need to be on returning to the win column in this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 46 headliner. In yet another tough assignment, the 33-year-old will be opposite surging Georgian Giga Chikadze inside the Apex facility in Las Vegas.
Chikadze, who currently sits at #8 in the division, broke into the title conversation with finishes of Cub Swanson and Edson Barboza in 2021.
Calvin Kattar was one of the few featherweights who did not put his name in the hat to replace Max Holloway to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the belt.
Volkanovski was supposed to defend his belt in a trilogy match against Holloway at UFC 272 in March. Unfortunately, the Hawaiian was forced out of the bout. After that, several featherweights like Giga Chikadze, Korean Zombie, Josh Emmett, and Yair Rodríguez all called for the fight.
For Kattar, however, he didn’t see a reason to call for the fight, especially when he has a scrap coming up.
“Yeah, man, talk is cheap,” Kattar said on BetQL Tapped Out. “I’m trying to go out next week and earn it…Him throwing his name in the hat, it’d be a shame if I went out and ruined his plans, you know?”
Calvin Kattar & Max Holloway (Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Kattar is set to headline UFC Vegas 46 this Saturday against Giga Chikadze in a battle of top-10 featherweights. The winner could very well be in title contention, and that is all Kattar is focused on, not trying to call out the champ for a bout in March.
“All I know is a W gets me that much closer,” Kattar said. “You only get closer off wins. And some of these guys calling for the title shot off losses, it doesn’t really make sense to me. Yeah, it happens every now and then, but go out and win some shit and then talk.”
Calvin Kattar is currently ranked fifth at featherweight and is coming off a beatdown loss to Max Holloway in January last year. The loss dropped him to 22-5 as a pro and he’s 6-3 in the UFC with wins over Shane Burgos, Dan Ige, Jeremy Stephens, Andre Fili, and Ricardo Lamas among others.
Do you think Calvin Kattar will beat Giga Chikadze in the main event of UFC Vegas 46?
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