For the second consecutive year, Calvin Kattar will do the honors of opening the UFC’s calendar in a main event spot. He is facing underdog status for the second consecutive year, as well.
Kattar (22-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is currently the betting underdog going into the UFC on ESPN 32 main event vs. Giga Chikadze (14-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC), which takes place Jan. 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
Current odds for the featherweight contender matchup from Tipico, the exclusive sports betting and iGaming provider for USA TODAY Sports and MMA Junkie, have Chikadze as a -240 favorite, meaning a successful bet of $240 would be needed to secure a $100 win. Kattar, for his part, sits at +150, meaning a successful bet of $100 would secure a $150 win.
Kattar, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings, hasn’t fought since his unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway at UFC on ABC 1 in January 2021. He took significant damage in the bout, and followed it with a lengthy layoff.
He’ll attempt to rebound against streaking No. 12-ranked contender Chikadze, who is riding a run of seven consecutive octagon victories. The Georgian striking specialist is coming off a main event knockout of Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 30 in August.
The latest UFC on ESPN 32 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze
- Michel Pereira vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
- Rogerio Bontorin vs. Brandon Royval
- Jake Collier vs. Chase Sherman
- Gabriel Benitez vs. TJ Brown
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
- Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Court McGee
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Dakota Bush
- Saidyokub Kakhramonov vs. Brian Kelleher
- Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez
- Joseph Holmes vs. Jamie Pickett
Giga Chikadze swelling as betting favorite over Calvin Kattar in UFC’s first main event of 2022