Calvin Kattar silenced all of the critics with a dominant performance in the UFC’s first main event of 2022. Kattar returned to the octagon after a year layoff to batter Giga Chikadze and hand the Georgian standout his first UFC loss in the headliner of UFC Vegas. Did the victory put the New England Cartel fighter in featherweight championship contention? That question is discussed, along with other notable storylines from Saturday’s fight card at the UFC APEX with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee, and E. Casey Leydon.

Giga Chikadze and Calvin Kattar will battle it out in the UFC’s first main event of 2022. Does a surging Chikadze need a win more than Kattar, who is looking to bounce back from his loss to Max Holloway a year prior? That question is discussed, along with other top storylines ahead of UFC Vegas 46 with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee and E. Casey Leydon.

One of the sport’s most heated rivalries will be settled in March, but was it the right call by the UFC to put the matchup between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in a PPV main event slot? The new main event for UFC 272 between Covington and Masvidal will be discussed on this week’s edition of Between the Links. In addition, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew will talk the new featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273 in April following the scratch of Max Holloway, whether or not it was the right fight to make, the UFC’s first event of the new year this weekend with UFC Vegas 46, the featherweight headliner between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze, the low-key banger with all the changes, and predictions of who will be the male and female fighters for 2022.

If the Paul brothers really want to make the move to MMA, "Big Tuna" would be happy to welcome either one of them. Ben Parrish (11:05) returns to We Got Next to preview his light heavyweight matchup with Sullivan Cauley at Bellator 273 on Jan. 29, discusses making his second promotional appearance at the reaction from MMA fans following his memorable Bellator debut in September, feeling like win, lose, or draw, Bellator will sign him to an exclusive deal, how he sees the fight playing out, his thoughts on Jake Paul's KO win over Tyron Woodley and why he believes there may be some tomfoolery involved, being very much open to fights with the undefeated boxer, or his brother Logan Paul in MMA or boxing, and more. Finally, UFC flyweight Jasmine Jadudavicius discusses her upcoming octagon debut against Kay Hansen at UFC 270 next Saturday in Anaheim, being on enemy territory — which is something that is not new to her at all as a professional fighter — thoughts on the matchup with Hansen, horrible advice she received from a fan on social media, getting the chance to train with Brandon Moreno, and why Valentina Shevchenko would be her No. 1 choice to train with if she had the choice.

O Trocação Franca está pesado. Ex-campeão peso mosca do UFC, Deiveson Figueiredo analisa a trilogia com Brandon Moreno e os treinos com o ex-rival Henry Cejudo, enquanto Rodolfo Vieira comenta o duelo brasileiro com Wellington Turman no mesmo card, o UFC 270 de 22 de janeiro. Vitor Miranda, veterano e analista de lutas da organização, prevê o ano do Brasil no UFC e quem pode faturar cinturões em 2022.

Paul Felder joins the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer for a 2022 preview including his favorite fights coming up this year plus the biggest threats to each champion across the UFC.

Could 2022 see both Jon Jones and Conor McGregor fight for UFC titles? Will Khamzat Chimaev get himself into a title fight as well? This week on On To the Next One, those questions are presented during the 2022 predictions extravaganza. Hosts Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee will go through a slew of buy/sell questions presented by listeners about a variety of topics — including whether Jake Paul's next fight will be against a current member of the UFC roster, Kayla Harrison's free agency decision, Amanda Nunes' future, how Nate Diaz will start and end the year, and much more. In addition, they will make their choices for who will end the year as UFC champion in each division, along with their bold and spicy predictions for the world of MMA in 2022.

O episódio dessa semana do Trocação Franca está um pouquinho diferente. Vocês atenderam ao meu chamado nas redes sociais e enviaram dezenas de ótimas perguntas (e ruins também, claro) sobre sobre tudo o que está rolando por aí no mundo do MMA, do futuro do Brasil no esporte ao trabalho como jornalista de MMA, e eu respondi a cada uma delas. Clica aí e vem conversar comigo.

Dana White and Jake Paul kicked off 2022 with a back-and-forth war of words — which is something that happened quite frequently in 2021. But what does it all mean and can any actual good come from it? That topic will be discussed by on the finale of the Between the Links championship tournament. In addition, the title competitors will talk the potential of a fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz after the former interim lightweight champ recently stated he had agreed to the bout, UFC 272 looking strong with the announcement of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 3 and Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2, bold but not impossible predictions for this new year, and more. Host Mike Heck moderates the championship matchup between MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee.

Cheyanne Vlismas would love to get back inside the octagon before the summer, but she can't say for sure if that will be a reality. Vlismas kicks off this week's episode of We Got Next to recap her impressive unanimous decision win over Mallory Martin in December at UFC Vegas 44, discusses spending the new year in an undisclosed location, a rollercoaster ride throughout 2021 that included a loss in her UFC debut, a horrible bout of COVID-19, a divorce, and consecutive octagon wins that led to bonuses, why the win over Martin stuck out more than her finish of Gloria de Paula, her UFC future being unclear, and much more. Finally, UFC flyweight Brandon Royval previews his UFC Vegas 46 matchup with Rogerio Bontorin on Jan. 15, talks how he's approaching his first fight of 2022 in the heels of two straight stoppage losses, learning how to fine some focus in his chaotic style, watching a ton of Sean O'Malley footage and getting motivation from it, feeling like he could fight for the flyweight title by the end of the year, and more.

Co-hosts Shaun Al-Shatti and Alexander K. Lee ring in the new year by rummaging through the chaos left by an unforgettable run in December, anoint a new women's pound-for-pound No. 1 atop MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, plus much more. Then, the duo are joined by old friends Mike Heck and Jed Meshew to discuss Conor McGregor finally falling out of the rankings, play a round of "Ever Again?" to examine the futures of some down-on-their luck veterans, predict three names each who will either rise into the top-5 or plummet out of title contention by the end of 2022, and more.

With 2021 being such a wacky year in the world of mixed martial arts, we felt it was important to look back at the predictions that were made heading into one of the most memorable years in the history of the sport. In part one of our two-part predictions extravaganza, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee look back on some of the responses they had to listener question in regards to what 2021 was going to bring. Topics include Conor McGregor's activity for the year, whether or not Jon Jones would fight Israel Adesanya, for the heavyweight title, or at all in 2021, the return of the PFL finding success, Patricio Pitbull's Bellator championship status, Khamzat Chimaev, Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz competing, who will end the year as UFC champions, whether or not our bold predictions came true, and much more. In addition, we will need you help for part two: our 2022 predictions extravaganza episode. Submit your "buy or sell" questions the same way you send your matchmaking thoughts to Mike or AK on Twitter, Instagram, or email — and, please, be creative.

Join the MMA Fighting staff as we look back at the biggest highs and most jaw-dropping moments of 2021 in a special year-end retrospective. We’re honoring all the nights that defined a roller-coaster 12-month sprint — and handing out plenty of hardware for the athletes whose incredible accomplishments will stand the test of time for years to come.

On a very special episode of MMA Fighting’s Between the Links, Jon Anik recaps a memorable 2021 campaign for the UFC and looks ahead to what could be in store for the new year. Anik discusses why 2022 can be a fascinating year for the UFC in-terms of unresolved storylines, Max Holloway’s 2021 campaign not getting enough respect following his wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez, Charles Oliveira being his Fighter of the Year, calling championship wins for Oliveira, Francis Ngannou, Brandon Moreno, Glover Teixeira and Julianna Peña, why he believes Peña’s win over Amanda Nunes was the biggest upset in UFC history, Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, Khamzat Chimaev being the most intriguing storyline in his eyes heading into the new year, his broadcasting resolutions, and much more with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck.

This week on We Got Next, Ricky Simon to recap his KO victory over Raphael Assuncao at UFC Vegas 45, having Ed Herman call him a “veteran” in the gym recently, if he felt weight lifted off of his shoulders after the finish with memories of his loss to Urijah Faber in the back of people’s minds, his awkward exchange with Michael Bisping and the former middleweight champion’s claims that Simon tried to make him look silly, why he changed course and called out O’Malley, his response to O'Malley being ranked higher than him, the likelihood of that fight happening, his thoughts on the future rematch for the bantamweight title between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, and more.

O Trocação Franca traz uma entrevista histórica com Rickson Gracie sobre absolutamente tudo: como a “poligamia” deu origem ao clã Gracie e sua relação com a babá Isabel, sua mãe de sangue, sobre as 400 lutas de invencibilidade, qual lutador ficou entalado por nunca ter enfrentado, como um jovem Rickson se sairia no MMA atual, os erros e acertos de Kron no UFC, e muito mais.

How would Dustin Poirier fare in the UFC's welterweight division? Who will Conor McGregor fight next in his return to action? Those questions are answered on a special edition of On To the Next One. This week, hosts Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee answer questions from the listeners about MMA and beyond with topics including favorite sports to watch outside of mixed martial arts, fantasy boxing matchups, the strength of the UFC women's flyweight division moving forward, what Jimmy Flick has been up to since he retired, and much more.

Did Jake Paul land a $1 billion KO punch on Tyron Woodley this past Saturday night following a lackluster six-plus rounds of boxing in Tampa? This week on Between the Links, that question is discussed, along with what could be next for Paul after one of the most violent knockouts of the year, Derrick Lewis getting back on track with a vicious stoppage of Chris Daukaus in the main event of UFC Vegas 45 and whether or not Daukaus might be better served at light heavyweight, has father time officially caught up with Stephen Thompson, Belal Muhammad's callouts and a potential mistake he's made in strategy, and more. Plus, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew air grievances and discuss what improvements could be made in the UFC and Bellator heading into 2022.

Julianna Peña quebrou a banca e finalizou Amanda Nunes no UFC 265 e Luiz Claudio, treinador de jiu-jitsu da venezuelana, conversou com o podcast sobre a zebra histórica. O brasileiro, faixa-preta formado por Rickson Gracie, acredita que Nunes subestimou sua aluna no UFC 265, mas espera luta mais dura na revanche. O podcast também falou com Amanda Ribas, que analisou sua luta com Michelle Waterson e a queda da xará — e companheira de equipe — “Leoa” no UFC 265.

Michael Chandler joins the year-end edition of The Fighter vs. The Writer to give his picks for Fighter of the Year and Fight of the Year.

Derrick Lewis capped off 2021 with another ferocious KO of Chris Daukaus in the headliner of Saturday's UFC Vegas 45 event. What could be next for "The Black Beast" as he heads into 2022? On the final matchmaking episode of On To the Next One for the year, that topic is discussed, along with potential bookings for Belal Muhammad after picking up the biggest win of his career against former UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson, Amanda Lemos, Ricky Simon, Mateusz Gamrot, Cub Swanson, and more with MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee.

MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti, José Youngs, Alexander K. Lee, and E. Casey Leydon sift through the wreckage of a violent night to break down the top storylines coming out of UFC Vegas 45 and Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley 2.

Jake Paul says all of the pressure is on him ahead of Saturday’s rematch with Tyron Woodley, but is that actually the case? That question is discussed, along with where Paul goes with another win over the former UFC champ, if a trilogy happens right away with a Woodley win, Frank Gore vs. Deron Williams, “The People’s Main Event” between Chris Avila and Anthony Taylor, and more with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck joined by special guest Ariel Helwani.

Is Saturday's main event too much too soon for Chris Daukaus? Or will one of heavyweight's brightest prospects break through with a big-time win? MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti, José Youngs, and E. Casey Leydon break down that bout and more from UFC Vegas 45, including the welterweight showcase between Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad.

Does Jake Paul or Tyron Woodley have more pressure heading into their boxing rematch this Saturday in Tampa? This week, we called an audible and addressed that question, along with why Paul could actually be playing with proverbial house money. In addition, the panel recaps the top storylines from UFC 269, including where Julianna Pena's title win over Amanda Nunes ranks on the all-time upset list, where the result leaves Kayla Harrison, Dustin Poirier's future following his loss to lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, UFC Vegas 45 being a sneaky good card, the low-key banger for the promotion's final event of the year, Kevin Lee signing with Eagle FC, and more. This week, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew hit record, shoot the breeze and try to make sense of those topics.