It appears that Katlyn Chookagian will have to wait for a shot at the women’s flyweight title.
Days after she posted a video in response to champion Valentina Shevchenko’s patented dance celebration, campaigning for a title shot, she’s been booked to fight somebody else.
Chookagian (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will take on Jennifer Maia (17-5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC 244, promotion officials announced Wednesday.
UFC 244 takes place Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Chookagian is coming off a unanimous decision win over Joanne Calderwood at UFC 238. She believed it was enough to earn a title shot, but may have to win one more in a pivotal flyweight clash with Maia.
Since dropping her UFC debut to Liz Carmouche, who lost a decision to Shevchenko in a title fight this past Saturday, Maia has won two in a row. She notched a win over Alexis Davis at UFC on ESPN+ 6 and Roxanne Modafferi at UFC on ESPN 4. But she missed weight by a large margin in her most recent outing and came in at 129 pounds.
With the addition to the card, UFC 244 now includes:
- Corey Anderson vs. Johnny Walker
- Derrick Lewis vs. Blagoy Ivanov
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia