Report – Calvin Kattar targeted to return against Giga Chikadze in UFC headliner on January 15.

An eye-catching, high-stakes featherweight matchup between Calvin Kattar and promotional-perfect striker, Giga Chikadze is currently targeted to take main event status at a UFC Fight Night event on January 15. — with a location or venue for the event yet to be determined by the organization.

New England Cartel standout, Kattar last featured in the main event of UFC on ABC 1 in January this year on ‘Fight Island’ — suffering a damaging unanimous decision loss to former featherweight champion, Max Holloway. The defeat snapped an impressive two-fight winning run. 

For Tbilisi native, Chikadze, the Georgian standout lodged his seventh consecutive UFC victory in August — earning a Performance of the Night bonus in a one-sided third round knockout win over Edson Barboza. MMA Junkie reporters, Nolan King, and John Morgan were first to report the matchup. 

Massachusetts native, Kattar had turned in a unanimous decision win of his own over Dan Ige in a main event bout on ‘Fight Island’ in July of last year — off the back of a stunning, step-in elbow knockout victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 249 in May. The Tyson Chartier product holds other Octagon victories against Ricardo Lamas, Chris Fishgold, Shane Burgos, and Andre Fili. Kattar currently holds the #5 rank in the official featherweight pile. 

14-2 as a professional, Kings MMA trainee, and Rafael Cordeiro product, Chikadze made his first main event walk against Nova Friburgo striker, Barboza back in August — stopping the run of the Brazilian over the course of three dominant rounds.

In other notable Octagon wins, the #8 ranked contender has defeated Cub Swanson, Omar Morales, Brandon Davis, and Jamall Emmers. 

Ross Markey

Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.