UFC is back for 2022 with a Vegas Fight Night headlined by a featherweight clash between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze on Saturday, January 15 (1/15/2022).
UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+. The main fight card starts at 7:00 p.m. ET with the preliminary bouts at 4:00 p.m. ET.
In the main event — UFC’s first since mid-December — Calvin Kattar (22-5-0) squares off with Giga Chikadze (14-2-0). These two top 10 featherweights are fighting for future title contention, but they are coming into the bout from very different places.
This will be Kattar’s first fight since losing to Max Holloway a year ago in January 2021. Chikadze, on the other hand, is on a 9-fight win streak, most recently getting a TKO victory over feared striker, Edson Barboza.
“I’m facing my toughest opponent I ever faced,” Chikadze told Yahoo Sports. “I have a [lot] of respect for him, what he has done in this sport. He’s a very strong guy. Very tough guy.”
The undercard also features Michel Peireira looking for his 4th win in a row against #15 welterweight Muslim Salikhov, and a fight between Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Mai, two top 5 contenders.
Here’s a look at the main card for Saturday, which will air on ESPN and ESPN Plus:
- Featherweight: Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze
- Women’s Flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
- Flyweight: Brandon Royval vs. Rogério Bontorin
- Heavyweight: Jake Collier vs. Chase Sherman
- Featherweight: Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
And this is the full lineup for the prelims, which are exclusive to ESPN+:
- Welterweight: Court McGee vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
- Featherweight: Gabriel Benítez vs. T.J. Brown
- Lightweight: Dakota Bush vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
- Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov
- Women’s Strawweight: Silvana Gomez Juarez vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
What is ESPN Plus?
ESPN Plus is a streaming service available from ESPN for $6.99 a month (you can cancel any time, so if you wanted to sign up Friday and then cancel on Sunday, you’d only be charged for one month). ESPN Plus has a huge selection of live games from pro and college sports.
Cable packages like Spectrum, Verizon and DirecTV don’t include ESPN Plus, so if you want to watch the fight card, you’re going to have to pay $6.99 or find a bar that has the bout on. (Conversely, ESPN Plus does not include ESPN, ESPN2 and other ESPN channels).
ESPN+ is accessible via the ESPN App on most devices, including Amazon Fire, Apple, Android, Chromecast, PlayStation, Roku, Xbox One and more.
What does ESPN Plus include?
ESPN Plus features live sports like college football and basketball, international basketball, international and Major League Soccer and MLB. It also has its own original TV series. Your subscription also gets you access to the exclusive articles and content on ESPN Insider on the ESPN website.
A full schedule of UFC coverage on ESPN Plus is available here.
How much does ESPN Plus cost?
$6.99 a month, or $69.99 a year. The subscription doesn’t include access to certain pay-per-view events, such as UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane. Those events cost extra, but are still exclusive to the ESPN+ service.
If you’re looking to save on a lot of streaming content, the Disney Plus Bundle includes subscriptions to Hulu ($5.99), ESPN Plus ($6.99) and Disney Plus ($7.99) for just $13.99/month. You’re getting one of the services for free when you subscribe to all three.
