A battle of top-ranked flyweights has been added to UFC 244, as Katlyn Chookagian meets Jennifer Maia.
The UFC has booked a bout between Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia for UFC 244 on November 2. The bout is between two of the top ranked women’s flyweight fighters and both fighters will look to get a shot at gold if victorious. Newsday was first to report the pairing.
Katlyn Chookagian is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Joanne Calderwood at UFC 238. Coming into UFC 244, Chookagian is 3-1 in the new women’s flyweight division, only dropping a close split decision to Jessica Eye. Chookagian, who is the number two contender behind Eye, likely wants to continue her momentum and notch another win streak in the flyweight division.
Jennifer Maia lost her UFC debut to title challenger Liz Carmouche. Since then she’s rattled off two straight wins against Alexis Davis and Roxanne Modafferi. Unfortunately for Maia, she missed weight by three pounds in her last fight. However, she still came out with a win Modafferi. While missing weight was a setback, but it wasn’t detrimental as Maia and Chookagian are in a potential title eliminator to take on champion Valentina Shevchenko.
The fight comes on the heels of a disappointing main event between champion Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche this past weekend. Fans were big on Shevchenko after her highlight head kick of Jessica Eye and were hoping for a repeat performance. Instead, Shevchenko was respectful of Carmouche’s wrestling and was patient. Shevchenko called out women’s bantamweight and flyweight champ, Amanda Nunes. That fight could put the women’s flyweight division on hold for some time, the one thing it might need.
Building UFC 244
Chookagian and Maia are the third fight announced for UFC 244. Last week, the UFC confirmed that newly crowned fan favorite, Johnny Walker, will take on Corey Anderson. It represents a big step up for Walker. A win will put him in sight with Jon Jones for a title shot. The other fight announced features another fan favorite, Derrick Lewis. Lewis makes his return after an eight month layoff. Before that, he suffered back to back loses for the first time in his career. He takes on the very durable Blagoy Ivanov.
UFC 244 takes place November 2, 2019 at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
