Max Holloway, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and others react to Calvin Kattar's dominant performance against Giga Chikadze

Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze put on a sensational fight in the main event of the UFC's first fight card of 2022. Kattar defeated Chikadze via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45 and 50-44) at UFC Vegas 46.

Kattar neutralized Chikadze with constant pressure, giving him very little space to operate. 'The Boston Finisher' started the fight as the betting underdog and silenced his doubters in style.

A few days ago, Chikadze was touted by the MMA community as a potential replacement for Max Holloway in the featherweight title fight against Alexander Volkanovski. The Georgian was riding a nine-fight winning streak and was 7-0 in the UFC before this weekend.

Kattar returned to the octagon after a one-year layoff following the loss to Holloway last January. The Bostonian reminded the naysayers that he was still among the best fighters in the featherweight division.

The bout won the 'Fight of the Night' honor and both fighters came away with a $50,000 bonus.

Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler were among those who took to Twitter to praise both fighters.

See how MMA Twitter reacted to the Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze fight below:

Calvin Kattar is back on track for a title shot

Calvin Kattar advanced his professional record to 23-5 following his sensational performance against Giga Chikadze. With the win, Kattar will likely move up the rankings at 145 lbs.

Alexander Volkanovski, the reigning champion, is set to defend his belt against Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273 in April. With Max Holloway likely to get a title shot after that, Kattar has two possible higher-ranked opponents he could face next - Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is coming off a loss to Max Holloway, while Ortega is coming off a loss to Alexander Volkanovski. Both fighters will be looking to return to the win column in 2022.

About the author

Dominic Richard is an MMA Writer who joined Sportskeeda in September 2021. He is responsible for contributing news articles and features.

Dominic had previously worked as a reporter and sub-editor for the Sportstar magazine and website (2019-21), The Hindu newspaper and Arsenal Fever fan site (2015-17). He graduated from Chennai's Asian College of Journalism in May 2019.

Away from work, Dom is a sitcom freak whose favourite shows are Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory and its prequel Young Sheldon. He spends the weekends playing football with his friends and does a bit of cycling too.

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