5 biggest non-title UFC fights already booked in 2022

Derrick Lewis is scheduled to face Tai Tuivasa on February 12

While the UFC is yet to get underway in 2022, there are already a ton of big fights to look forward to. The promotion will return this weekend and events all the way through until the end of March are already beginning to take shape.

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When looking ahead to fights to come, many will be drawn to the big title fights on the horizon. Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane, Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo and Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling have all already been booked.

However, there are also plenty of great fights coming up that don't have championship gold on the line. Given the depth in the promotion today, non-title fights are still of an unbelievably high quality and many of these bouts feature some fan favorites in action.

These non-title fights could determine who gets title shots in 2022 and who will have to look to rebuild later in the year. With much of the first quarter of 2022 already planned out, let us now look ahead to some of the fights we can look forward to.

Here are the 5 biggest non-title fights already booked in 2022:

Honorable mentions: Kaitlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia, Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland, Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa, Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev

#5. Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze - UFC on ESPN 32

Kattar and Chikadze (pictured) have a combined record of 36-7

We start off with what will be the first main event of 2022. It features the No.5-ranked Calvin Kattar against the No.8-ranked Giga Chikadze. Interestingly, it is likely a much more important fight for the lower-ranked Chikadze.

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@Tipico odds have Giga Chikadze as the favorite over Calvin Kattar in the first main event of 2022.

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At the time of writing, there is still the chance that Chikadze could secure a title shot, should he pull off something special in this fight. Following Max Holloway's injury, Alexander Volkanovski is in need of a new challenger. While Chan Sung Jung appears best placed to claim it, perhaps Chikadze could leapfrog him here.

The Georgian is on a nine-fight win streak and has finished each of his last three opponents. Another finish against Kattar could put him in pole position for the title shot. However, for Kattar, this fight provides little more than an opportunity to get back in the win column which is why the fight doesn't rank as high as some others.