UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze Preview, Best Bets

The UFC begins their 2022 schedule with a fight night card headlined by a pair of featherweight contenders in Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze.

Kattar took about a year off to heal after losing to former champion Max Holloway while Chikadze has been bulldozing through his competition to date. Chikadze is looking to angle for a title shot with a win over a formidable foe in Kattar.

There are 10 fights on the card and plenty of betting value, here are three I'm eyeing for Saturday night:

Odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Main Event: Calvin Kattar (+190) vs. Giga Chikadze (-240)

The Chikadze hype train has gone too far. While he is a powerful striker, Kattar is the toughest opponent for 'Ninja' to date.

Kattar closed a short underdog to one of the greatest featherweights of all time in Holloway last year, now he is a near 2-1 dog? He has never been knocked out in his five UFC losses and capable of grinding out decisions, nine of his 22 victories have come through the scorecards.

I expect Kattar to pull away late and take this fight. He is a talented striker and has experience going five rounds, even if it was on the losing end. While noting that the Boston native got destroyed by Holloway in his last fight, possibly making him more vulnerable to a knockout, he had more than a year off since, and I believe his chin can hold up.

I love to fade the trendy prospect and Chikadze has not faced someone of Kattar's caliber.

PICK: Katter ML +195

Prop Bet: Katlyn Chookagian (-185) vs. Jenifer Maia (+155)

This is a rematch from 2019 when Chookoagian took a unanmious decision over Maia.

Since then, Maia made a surprising run and earned a title fight against Valentina Shevchenko which resulted in a loss. Now, she's back in the middle of the division where Chookagian has remained for the last few years.

I don't see much different in this fight than from two years ago. Chookagian is the far superior striker and has the reach advantage to avoid allowing Maia to gain control of grappling exchanges and get this to the ground.

At a near pick 'em, I'm siding with the favorite to win on the cards for the second time.

PICK: Chookagian by Decision -110

Underdog Bet: Charles Rosa (+195) vs. TJ Brown (-240)

This fight came together quickly during fight week after Brown's opponent Gabriel Benitez was forced to withdraw, setting up a nice buy low spot on Rosa.

This will be the first time Brown is north of a -150 favorite in his UFC career as he goes up against a similarly skilled fight in Rosa. Both fighters are far from overpowering and typical go deep into fights with their results going to the judges scorecards.

Usually, bettors overreact to a fighter coming in on a short notice and bet against them, but Rosa is a veteran and should be prepared for this fight. At this price in a fight that is likely to go three full rounds and have a ton of variance, I'm willing to take a stab at Rosa.

This fight should be closer to -150/+130 than this price.