Giga Chikadze

Giga Chikadze (born 25 August 1988) is a Georgian mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who competed in the featherweight division of GLORY and currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of 13 December 2021, he is #8 in the UFC featherweight rankings.

Background

Giga Chikadze was born on 25 August 1988 in Tbilisi. Between ages 4 and 5, he began to train in Gōjū-ryū Karate. As a child, he inspired to join after watching martial arts movies by Jet Li and Bruce Lee. His first introduction to MMA was watching the early UFC events (especifically UFC 1) on VHS tapes, he was very impressed with Royce Gracie with his capabilities of defeating opponents of smaller size while wearing a keikogi.

Chikadze started competing in Kickboxing, moving to the Netherlands for training and in 2015 he joined GLORY, the world's largest kickboxing organization.

Mixed martial arts career

World Series of Fighting

Chikadze made his mixed martial arts debut as a lightweight in the WSOF, facing Xtreme Couture fighter Gil Guardado. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Gladiator Challenge

Chikadze would join a promotion known as the Gladiator Challenge, and would enjoy a five-fight win streak in which all fights were ended via first-round knockout.

Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series

In mid-June, Chikadze would join UFC president Dana White's Dana White's Contender Series 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada to face former Ultimate Fighter contestant Austin Springer in a featherweight bout. Chikadze would receive his second professional loss in his MMA career after submitting to a rear-naked choke in the third round.

Return to the Gladiator Challenge

After losing to Springer, Chikadze would return to the lightweight division of the Gladiator Challenge, earning a quick submission victory and a swift TKO after that.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Giga Chikadze would sign a four-fight contract with the UFC and would be scheduled to make his UFC debut against fellow Contender Series fighter Mike Davis at UFC Fight Night 160 in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, Davis would pull out of the fight due to health issues and would be replaced by Brandon Davis in a short-notice bout. After three rounds passed, the fight would be declared a split draw, but due to a scoring error made by one of the judges of the bout, the outcome would be corrected to a split decision victory for Chikadze.

Chikadze would make his next UFC appearance on the preliminary card of UFC 248 against featherweight Jamall Emmers. Chikadze would earn a razor-thin split decision victory over Emmers after the bout had ended.

Chikadze, once again, would be scheduled to face Mike Davis on 16 May 2020 at UFC on ESPN 8. However, Davis would pull out of the bout due to a weight cut-related illness and would be replaced by promotional newcomer Irwin Rivera. Chikadze would win the fight by unanimous decision.

Chikadze was scheduled to face Alex Caceres on 29 August 2020 at UFC Fight Night 175. However, Chikadze withdrew from the bout due to tested positive for COVID-19 and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Kevin Croom.

Chikadze faced Omar Morales on 11 October 2020 at UFC Fight Night 179. He won the fight via unanimous decision despite knocking Morales down in the final round.

Chikadze faced promotional newcomer Jamey Simmons on 7 November 2020 at UFC on ESPN 17. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Chikadze faced Cub Swanson on 1 May 2021 at UFC on ESPN 23. He won the bout in the first round via technical knockout after catching Swanson with a kick to the liver. This win earned him the Performance of the Night bonus award.

Chikadze faced Edson Barboza on 28 August 2021 at UFC on ESPN 30. He won the back-and-forth fight via technical knockout in round three. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Chikadze faced Calvin Kattar in the main event on 15 January 2022 at UFC on ESPN 32. He lost the fight via unanimous decision after being knocked down and almost finished in the final seconds of the fight. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.

Personal life

Chikadze has stated that he went to college and graduated with a degree in Business Management