Former women’s flyweight title challengers [autotag]Katlyn Chookagian[/autotag] and [autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag] will run things back in the UFC’s first event of 2022.
Chookagian (16-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) meets Maia (19-7-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 15, which will take place at a location and venue to be announced.
A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Maia also posted about the news on her Instagram account. MMA Ideas was first to report the news.
Chookagian defeated Maia by unanimous decision at UFC 244 in November 2019 to earn a title shot against champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 247. Chookagian was stopped by Shevchenko but went on to win three of her next four and is coming off back-to-back wins over Cynthia Calvillo and Viviane Araujo.
After losing to Chookagian, Maia scored a first-round armbar of Joanne Calderwood to earn a shot at Shevchenko’s title at UFC 255. Maia fell short to the champion in a decision loss, but was able to rebound with a unanimous decision win over Jessica Eye at UFC 264 in July.
With the addition, the Jan. 15 lineup includes:
- Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar
- Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
- Saidyokub Kakhramonov vs. Brian Kelleher
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
- Rogerio Bontorin vs. Brandon Royval
- Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Court McGee
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
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