Calvin Kattar Receives Praise from Dana White, Shares Hospital Photo-Op with Giga Chikadze

After five brutal rounds in the Octagon at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze shared a moment of mutual respect after being transported to a local hospital.

Chikadze posted a photo of the two posing together on social media with the caption “respect” following their UFC on ESPN 32 headlining bout, which Kattar won via unanimous decision. Neither featherweight attended Saturday’s post-fight press conference for precautionary reasons, but it was Chikadze whose face showed the more visible damage in the aftermath.

Respect @CalvinKattar pic.twitter.com/T8GNWX4qNA

— GIGA CHIKADZE (@giga_chikadze) January 16, 2022

While Kattar kept his opponent off balance for the majority of the contest behind punches to the head, standing elbows and the occasional takedown, Chikadze never completely wilted, and he fired back against “The Boston Finisher” to the best of his abilities. It wasn’t enough to extend what was previously a nine-bout professional winning streak, but both men received praise from UFC president Dana White – as well as $50,000 apiece for “Fight of the Night.”

“That was an absolute war,” White said. “The first fight of the year and a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate already. That’s the way to start it. That’s the way to start the year. It was incredible. And you know what’s funny ... it’s almost like everybody forgot about Calvin Kattar [after] Max Holloway. You know what I mean? A lot of people were counting him out tonight — and he looked unbelievable.”

Kattar, of course, hadn’t competed since a shellacking against Holloway in the UFC on ABC 1 headliner one year ago. On Saturday, he re-established himself as a person of interest in the UFC’s featherweight division.

“That guy’s an absolute dog, man,” White said of Kattar. “Now if you look at the fights that he’s had in the UFC, but specifically now Holloway and Giga, he’s a special kind of guy. He’s a f--ing warrior, man.

“[Kattar] kept constant pressure on him, he stayed in his face, he kept moving him backwards, and it looked like Giga was out of it halfway through the second round.”

The 33-year-old Kattar has won three of his last four promotional appearances, adding Chikadze to a recent victim list that also includes Dan Ige and Jeremy Stephens. Chikadze, who had lobbied for a shot against reigning 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski following Holloway’s withdrawal from their proposed trilogy, must go back to the drawing board after seeing his lengthy winning streak snapped.