Another fight weekend is in the books. Although there were only two finishes on the UFC’s first card of the year, the headliner delivered in every way possible: Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze put on a banger that will likely maintain a spot high on Fight of the Year lists throughout 2022, with Kattar becoming the one to derail Chikadze’s unbeaten UFC run.
I’ll have more on the epic main event this week. But for now, as usual, here’s a look at three fighters outside the main event who boosted their stock this weekend.
By my estimation, there are two special talents in the UFC flyweight division. There’s champion Valentina Shevchenko, who now reigns as the world of women’s MMA’s pound-for-pound No. 1 after Amanda Nunes‘ stunning loss last month. And then there’s former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade, one of the world’s strongest and most imposing fighters despite her lack of height.
But over the last five years, the fighter that has stood out most consistently from the flyweight morass that trails behind those two stars has been Katlyn Chookagian. And on Saturday, Chookagian provided another example of what makes her one of the world’s best 125ers, when she outclassed recent title challenger Jennifer Maia.
Chookagian is a tremendous example of a fighter who is both an unimpressive athlete and an unimpressive natural talent achieving more than you might have ever thought. She’s 10-4 in the UFC since signing with the promotion in 2016, with those defeats coming to Shevchenko, Andrade, and close split decisions against title challengers Liz Carmouche and Jessica Eye.
How does she do it? By being one of the best pure point-fighters in the game. Chookagian is a striking-based fighter with absolutely no natural power whatsoever. 14 of her 17 career victories have gone the distance, including all 10 in the Octagon. But through hard work and strident study of the game, Chookagian has developed a masterful sense of range, which she’s used to consistently keep fights where she wants them while popping her opponents with pitter-patter combinations that score points with the judges.
It isn’t always the most exciting style of fighting to watch, but it’s damned effective – and I actually thought the Maia fight on Saturday was a pretty fun bout, especially compared to many of the others that night. Chookagian earned 30-27s across the board after outlanding Maia 81-60, scoring a rare takedown that helped her control much of round 1 on the ground, and defending both of Maia’s takedown attempts.
Another sound, workmanlike – workwomanlike? – performance from Katlyn Chookagian, the type we’ve come to expect. It was Chookagian’s third straight win since losing to Andrade by first-round KO in Oct. 2020, a streak that has firmly entrenched her as the UFC’s No. 2 flyweight contender.
It’s also put her in a fascinating spot. Chookagian fought out the final deal of her contract on Saturday, revealing that the UFC had declined to tender her a new deal before the fight with Maia. One would hope that the UFC, supposedly the top fight organization in the world, would see value in retaining unquestionably one of the top fighters in the world in a division that has precious little depth.
But the UFC has done this before. UFC management has made it quite clear through their actions that they’re not actually in the business of employing the world’s best fighters for its own sake – they’re only there to make money and nothing else. No other consideration matters, which could bode ill for a very successful fighter who doesn’t finish fights.
Recall Carmouche getting released from the UFC in 2019, immediately after challenging for the world title and despite being one of the consensus top five 125ers in the world. If Chookagian has to go elsewhere, one would expect her to follow Carmouche’s lead and go to Bellator – she would be a strong addition to a Bellator flyweight division with some nice depth.
I’m sure that few but the most hardcore MMA fans are going to be keeping track on where Katlyn Chookagian is going to go, but it’s a subplot I’m very interested in for the first half of 2022 – she’ll be a factor at the top of wherever she ends up.
On Saturday, 35-year-old featherweight Brian Kelleher strengthened his case for why he’s one of the trickiest veterans in the game. No, not one of the best. No, not one of the most talented. One of the trickiest. One of the smartest. A guy you need to be damn good to beat.
Fighting in the two deepest divisions in mixed martial arts – he’s bounced between bantamweight and featherweight through out his pro career – Kelleher will never be a champion, and likely will never sniff a top 15. But to beat Brian Kelleher, you either need to be damn fucking good (Marlon Vera, John Lineker, Cody Stamann, Ricky Simon) or literally twice his fucking size (Montel Jackson). You need to be someone to beat Brian Kelleher. Otherwise, he’s going to figure out a way.
Those five fighters I named above are the five fighters who have beaten Brian Kelleher in the UFC. You better be damn sure that Kevin Croom, a career journeyman, wasn’t going to join that list. That’s despite a size disadvantage that’s become typical throughout Kelleher’s career: size-wise Kelleher, standing at 5-foot-6 with a 66-inch reach, has always been a better fit for 135, while Croom looked more like the 155er he’s been in the past with his 5-foot-11 frame and 73-inch reach.
And through much of the fight, Kelleher clearly struggled with Croom’s size and reach on the feet. Croom outlanded Kelleher 33-11 in the first round, and surely would have taken the frame had Kelleher – never a power puncher – not dropped Croom with a big overhand right midway through the round.
But Kelleher settled it down, leaning on his effective offensive grappling: the veteran landed a UFC career-high six takedowns and had nearly six and a half minutes of control time, almost all of it in the last two rounds. In the third, with the fight still close in many eyes, Kelleher was in complete command, controlling four and a half minutes off three takedowns and outlanding Croom 30-6. Like I said – he found a way.
Tune in next time Brian Kelleher is in the cage. Not because he’s on his way to a world title – but because if you see him lose, you know that guy’s going somewhere.
I’m including ONE strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan here not because she has a whole lot left to accomplish where she is. By beating Ayaka Miura in a lopsided unanimous decision on Friday, Xiong effectively cleared out her division – ONE’s rankings only list a top five, and Xiong has now beaten everyone listed except No. 5 Jenelyn Olsim, who’s lately been fighting at atomweight instead of strawweight.
I’m putting her here because of how much might be on her plate in a new division. Before her fight with Miura, Xiong started making noises about moving down to atomweight herself, and building towards a trilogy fight with champion Angela Lee – Xiong had previously beaten Lee for the strawweight title, before losing to her in an atomweight rematch in a 2019 duology.
First, of course, she had to get past Miura, a one-dimensional judo fighter who is nevertheless good at her one dimension – hitting a head-and-arm throw and putting you in a scarf hold americana. She accomplished that relatively easily, defending every single one of Miura’s takedown attempts while effortlessly dominating the striking with her busier, much more technically sound boxing.
It wasn’t an artistic triumph – much of the fight took place against the fence, with Xiong, bored expression on her face, stuffing fruitless Miura double-legs – but it was a good example of how far ahead of the rest of her division Xiong is. It seems like time for Xiong, the only strawweight champion in ONE history, to pursue new challenges.
Plenty of good ones exist at atomweight, from a third fight with Lee, to interesting bouts with talents like Stamp Fairtex and Seo Hee Ham. And if anyone worthwhile arises at strawweight, she can deal with that too. One thing I know for sure: Xiong Jingnan’s going to be in some neat fights real soon. It’s about time.
The Big Fight 