We’re just days away from the UFC kicking off its 2022 season, and new bouts are being added every day – just yesterday two world title bouts were announced as in the works for what suddenly looks like an amazing March pay-per-view. With that in mind, what fights should UFC fans be on the lookout for over the next few months? Here’s your road map:

UFC on ESPN+, January 15

Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar, Michel Pereira vs. Muslim Salikhov, Brandon Royval vs. Rogerio Bontorin, Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia

The UFC returns in a week with one heck of a striking banger of a featherweight main event, as ascendant star kickboxer Giga Chikadze gets his shot at the big time with his first main event with tough boxer Calvin Kattar. We also have a fascinating style matchup between the idiosyncratic Michel Pereira and sanda champion Muslim Salikhov, riding a five-fight win streak, the return of flyweight action machine Brandon Royval, and a Chookagian-Maia bout that will be interesting for the flyweight pecking order.

UFC 270, January 22

Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane, Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo III, Movsar Evloev vs. Ilia Topuria

The UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2022 is short on depth, but huge at the top of the card, with two major world title fights that will have resounding impacts on the rest of 2022. After an interim title controversy and a public dispute with Dana White, Francis Ngannou will meet Ciryl Gane in a matchup of the world’s two best heavyweights, and one that could conceivably be the deciding point of Ngannou’s UFC future. It doesn’t get any better than that. But there’s more – we get the third bout in what has been a great trilogy between Moreno and Figueiredo over the flyweight title, the kind of showdown that could propel Moreno even further towards true stardom. The undercard isn’t great, but keep an eye out for a fantastic matchup between two undefeated featherweight talents in Topuria and Evloev.

UFC on ESPN+, February 5

Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland, Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Carlston Harris, Bryan Battle vs. Tresean Gore

Our first genuinely weak UFC card of the year comes on Feb. 5, with a middleweight spotlight for insane person Sean Strickland, who looks to continue the run of his career in what appears to be a winnable one against Jack Hermansson. There are a couple other interesting bouts on the card – I’m psyched for the return of Shavkat Rakhmonov, a great welterweight talent who I think is set up for a huge 2022, against a pretty exciting under-the-radar talent in Carlston Harris. We also get what was supposed to be the last Ultimate Fighter final, before Gore had to pull out with injury.

UFC 271, February 12

Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker II, Jared Cannonier vs. Derek Brunson, Alexander Hernandez vs. Renato Moicano, Roxanne Modafferi vs. Casey O’Neill, Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell

Huge night at middleweight: not only do we have the long-awaited rematch between Adesanya and Whittaker – the champion who has never lost at middleweight against the former king who’s looked as good as ever since losing the title – we might also have the next No. 1 contender decided between Cannonier and Brunson. Plenty of other good fights on the card: Hernandez-Moicano looks like a fun banger, Perez-Schnell is a matchup of sleeper flyweight contenders, and Modafferi-O’Neill will be the sendoff for a true women’s MMA pioneer against one of the UFC’s brightest young talents.

UFC on ESPN+, February 19

Johnny Walker vs. Jamahal Hill, Alexander Romanov vs. Ilir Latifi

Pretty skippable one shaping up here, but there’s no official main event yet. It’s conceivable that Walker-Hill could headline – in theory, that’d be a pretty entertaining light heavyweight striking showdown, but Walker has looked distressingly boring since switching to SBG Ireland. Nothing else great on the show, but I do have an unhealthy obsession with Romanov.

UFC on ESPN+, February 26

Beneil Dariush vs. Islam Makhachev, Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba, Arman Tsarukyan vs. Joel Alvarez, Terrance McKinney vs. Fares Ziam, Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Rongzhu

Now this one has some heat on it. Dariush-Makhachev is one of the best lightweight grappling showdowns that can be made, and an incredible test for a rising star in Makhachev that everyone says is title-ready. Tsarukyan-Alvarez features two of the best rising talents at 155. Spann and Cutelaba both desperately need wins to stay relevant at 205. McKinney returns after debuting with one of the fastest KOs in UFC history, and don’t sleep on Bahamondes-Rongzhu, two young talents that I think very highly of.

UFC 272, March 5

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway III, Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan II, Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell, Jessica Eye vs. Manon Fiorot, Marina Rodriguez vs. Yan Xiaonan, Jalin Turner vs. Jamie Mullarkey

Card of the Year so far in 2022. Volkanovski-Holloway III promises to be perhaps the biggest featherweight fight the UFC has put on since Aldo–McGregor, and it’s only sweetened by the bantamweight title rematch between Yan and Sterling, which will finally end that boondoggle and once and for all crown the undisputed 135-pound king. There are some other fights I LOVE on here as well – Barboza-Mitchell is a great clash of styles at 145, as the undefeated submission shark Mitchell comes back off a long layoff against the always-deadly Barboza. Manon Fiorot, one of the best under-the-radar talents at 135, gets the biggest platform of her career, while Rodriguez-Yan will have significant title implications at 115. Jalin Turner-Jamie Mullarkey is also a banger between two future stars.

UFC on ESPN+, March 12

Thiago Santos vs. Magomed Ankalaev, Marlon Moraes vs. Song Yadong, Bruno Blindado vs. Alex Pereira, Alex Caceres vs. Sodiq Yusuff, Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn

This is also really great as Fight Nights go. Magomed Ankalaev, one of the sport’s best counter-strikers and the best rising talent at 205, has his chance to truly vault himself into title contention in the main event; super-prospect Song Yadong can also do the same thing at 135 with a win over former title challenger Marlon Moraes. Someone’s getting knocked the fuck out between Pereira and Bruno Blindado, and the winner will be set up for HUGE things in 2022. Caceres-Yusuff pairs a wily vet on the run of his life with a great young talent, and Dober-Glenn looks to be a fun banger.

UFC on ESPN+, March 19

Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Tom Aspinall

The UFC’s first event in Great Britain since the pandemic hasn’t fully filled out yet, and you’d expect a main event announcement at some point over the next couple weeks. But at least, we’ll get a nice platform for the sport’s best heavyweight prospect, Englishman Tom Aspinall, who will get to make his countrymen proud when he faces gatekeeper Abdurakhimov.

UFC on ESPN+, March 26

Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic, Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Ribas, Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France

Jiri Prochazka is believed to be the next challenger for Glover Teixeira‘s light heavyweight title – the winner between former champ Blachowicz and Rakic could be next. Amanda Ribas, always a popular talent at 115, gets another shot to build herself back up the rankings, and Askarov-Kara-France could very well determine the next challenger for the flyweight title after the finish of the Moreno-Figueiredo trilogy.