5 best UFC fights of January 2022

#2. Raoni Barcelos vs. Victor Henry – UFC 270

Raoni Barcelos is being tipped by many as the dark horse of the UFC bantamweight division.

Barcelos was looking to get back on track after having his nine-fight win streak snapped by Timur Valiev last year. Prior to that, the Brazilian picked up five octagon victories, including wins over Khalid Taha and Said Nurmagomedov. He took on promotional newcomer Victor Henry on the preliminary card of UFC 270. Henry took the fight on two weeks' notice.

The duo put on a barnburner that comprised of non-stop back-and-forth action for three full rounds. Both fighters maintained an incredible pace, with Henry eventually out striking his Brazilian counterpart. The UFC debutant came away with a unanimous decision victory.

Their bout set a new promotional record as well. With a total of 315, Henry and Barcelos set the record for most significant strikes in a three-round bantamweight fight. UFC 267's five-round co-main event between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen holds the record in the bantamweight division with 318.

MMA Fighting deputy editor Shaheen Al-Shatti retweeted UFC research analyst Michael Carroll's post to share the news of the record on Twitter.

"Victor Henry and Raoni Barcelos' combined 315 significant strikes were apparently the most for a three-round bantamweight fight in UFC history."

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#1. Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze – UFC Vegas 46

Many believed Calvin Kattar would never be the same again following his unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway last year.

One-sided beatdowns like the one he endured against Holloway tend to leave a lasting impression on a fighter. The likes of Cody Garbrandt, Donald Cerrone, Tony Ferguson and Dominick Reyes have struggled to return to winning ways after taking a lot of damage in previous bouts.

Kattar smartly opted to take a year-long layoff following the bout. He returned to the octagon at UFC Vegas 46 to take on rising featherweight Giga Chikadze in the first main event of 2022. Chikadze was riding a seven-fight win streak and was fresh off a sensational TKO victory over Edson Barboza.

The general consensus was that this was an extremely unfavorable matchup for Kattar.

As such, he was listed on multiple betting sites as the underdog. Nevertheless, he silenced his doubters with a spectacular domination of Chikadze. The 33-year-old somewhat surprisingly outstruck his Georgian counterpart, who's an experienced kickboxer and excellent striker.

Chikadze's toughness ensured that fans were treated to a spectacular five-round stand-up war to kick off 2022. The judges scored the contest 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45 in favor of Kattar, who earned an impressive victory in what was arguably his strongest performance yet.