Giga Chikadze swelling as betting favorite over Calvin Kattar in UFC’s first main event of 2022

Calvin Kattar is facing an uphill climb against Giga Chikadze at UFC Fight Night 200 if the odds are any indication.

For the second consecutive year, [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] 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. [autotag]Giga Chikadze[/autotag] (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

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