Preview: UFC on ESPN 32 ‘Kattar vs. Chikadze’

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Women’s Flyweights

#2 WFLW | Katlyn Chookagian (16-4, 9-4 UFC) vs. #4 WFLW | Jennifer Maia (19-7-1, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Chookagian (-180), Maia (+155)

Former Valentina Shevchenko victims square off in this rematch with a surprising amount of intrigue. These two initially faced off in November 2019, which was the fight that earned Chookagian her shot at Shevchenko a few months later. It also served as a breakthrough performance of sorts for Chookagian, who up to that point had been successful but in frustratingly consistent fashion. For the first few years of her UFC career, Chookagian was content to stick to a low-power range striking style that resulted in some uninspiring fights. “Blonde Fighter” looked to neutralize her opponents through speed and volume at the expense of damaging offense and often did enough to outpoint her way to a decision victory. However, the Maia fight saw Chookagian more willing to engage and more enthusiastic about putting some power behind her shots, and while she was completely overmatched against Shevchenko, she has proven surprisingly adaptable in her fights since. While Jessica Andrade showed the clear athletic wall that the Pennsylvania native can hit, Chookagian has been much more willing to rely on pressure or her wrestling if the stylistic matchup calls for it. As for Maia, she herself earned a shot at Shevchenko by the end of 2020, rebounding from the Chookagian loss with a submission victory over Joanne Wood. She put in a surprisingly game effort against the flyweight queen, leveraging her powerful and clinch-heavy approach to even take a round on the scorecards.

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Like Chookagian, Maia has also put in some obvious work to improve since the two first met. She has become more versatile as a striker, and it was impressive to see her play the role of the quicker and more evasive fighter in her decision win over Jessica Eye in June. Both women’s improvements make this a much more interesting fight than at any point during their careers to date, and given that neither plays a particularly high-margin game, there is certainly a chance for Maia to narrow the gap and get the win this time around. With that said, Chookagian’s speed advantage and ability to dictate range still figure to carry her given the adaptability she has shown in her recent run of fights. The pick is Chookagian via decision.

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