As silly as it might be to say following the first UFC event of 2022, UFC Vegas 46’s main event between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze could be in the running for Fight of the Year.
Timing is everything in MMA mind you. Much like Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar, Kattar-Chikadze may have simply fallen too soon in the year to be remembered come awards season.
Regardless, the UFC Vegas 46 main event delivered. It answered every question it needed to answer, and then some. Could Calvin Kattar return to form after a year off following the beating he took from Holloway? Yes. Would the winner of Saturday’s fight have been ready to face Alexander Volkanovski on short notice, a fight that went to The Korean Zombie anyway? No.
Is Giga Chikadze ready for the spotlight? Probably, and he’ll learn a lot from the loss he took at the hands of Calvin Katter. In short, despite losing a five-round unanimous decision, gassing as the fight wore on and being beat up in the end, Chikadze has tons of upside.
The Georgian also proved on Saturday that he has tons of heart, doing his part to help the pair win the Fight of the Night bonus.
Your FOTN honors without question 👏👏👏
[ @CalvinKattar @Giga_Chikadze | #UFCVegas46 | B2YB @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/9tJHJcJUeT
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2022
Performance of the Night awards were handed out to the only two finishes on the UFC Vegas 46 card. Jake Collier collected one, for his first-round submission of Chase Sherman. Viacheslav Borshchev captured the other, thanks to a body shot that put Dakota Bush down earlier on the main card.
All four bonus-winning fighters will pocket an extra $50,000 U.S. for their efforts.
