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Giga Chikadze Wants To Kickstart Charge To Georgia's Third Title
Georgian Striking Ace Giga Chikadze Hopes A Big Win In Kansas City Can Set Up A Run At UFC's Featherweight Elite
Giga Chikadze is back to full fitness and ready to resume his quest for UFC featherweight championship gold.
Chikadze makes his return to action this weekend at UFC Kansas City after a nine-month layoff that saw him return from a scary injury to his neck during his unanimous decision loss to Arnold Allen at UFC 304.
“Yeah, that fight was pretty interesting. If I told you honestly what happened, I don't know if fans are gonna start criticizing me,” he admitted.
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“Because every time a fighter loses and they say something, like ‘Oh, that happened. This happened.’ They always come up with some s**t.
“But, in reality, I was feeling great in the first round. I really felt untouchable. And, three seconds before the first round ended, I threw a flying knee, and I partially landed it, and he kind of wobbled.
“When he stood up, he threw a push kick to kind of get away from me, and that landed on my neck. One of my herniations in the neck came out and paralyzed the whole right hand.
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“So, until I had the surgery, I didn't have my right hand back. I couldn't hold the phone. It was really weird. But yeah, I fought with that for the second and third round. So I think, for me, it proved that I can fight anyone with one hand – it doesn’t matter if you are in the top five.
“So, I learned a lot from this fight. Hopefully it doesn't happen like that in the future in my career, but it’s good experience.”
Chikadze is part of a cohort of Georgian fighters who have steadily risen to the sharp end of their respective weight classes.
Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria both captured championship gold at bantamweight and featherweight, respectively, and Chikadze hopes that both he and compatriot Roman Dolidze can add two more names to Georgia’s list of UFC champions.
It was always Chikadze’s dream to bring a UFC title to Georgia, and he said that seeing Dvalishvili and Topuria reaching the UFC summit has been hugely encouraging for his own career.
“That's a really proud moment for me, because I remember when we didn't have even ranked fighters in the UFC. Now we have two champions,” he explained.
Giga Chikadze Knocks Out Edson Barboza | UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs Chikadze
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Giga Chikadze Knocks Out Edson Barboza | UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs Chikadze
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“Roman is on the rise, as well. I’m sure we’re gonna see him with a belt soon. And for me, I wanted to be the first Georgia champion. And I was calling that because I was very close at the time to getting the chance. But there is no jealousy in me, ever, because I'm so proud of these moments.
“I saw Merab and Ilia’s careers, how they started. I know their stories. I know their family stories. And that's such a motivation. I don't even think that you guys have known all the stories about them, how hard they worked to be on that stage.”
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Chikadze’s own journey sees him head into enemy territory as he takes on Kansas City-based David Onama, who will look to convert home advantage into a big-name victory to push him into the UFC rankings.
Chikadze knows he’s facing a man who prefers to get the job done with his striking, but experience tells him that things don’t always pan out that way when fellow strikers attempt to stand and trade with him.
“These types of challenges are always fun for me,” he said.
“It excited me more, but, as I said before, a long time ago, I do think that people turn into wrestlers and grapplers when I fight. So, we’ll see what happens.
“He has a chance to stand and bang with me, and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen.”
A quick, clean victory could potentially open up a rare opportunity to fight close to his homeland, with the UFC heading to Baku in neighboring Azerbaijan on June 21. It’s a potential opportunity for him to compete close to home, but his focus remains on campaigning for the UFC to hold an event in his native Georgia.
“Let’s see what happens. Hopefully I finish this fight pretty early without any injuries,” he said.
“I tried to bring UFC to Georgia, and I worked my ass off on that. I showed the stadium there. We had the meeting with the Prime Minister group, Mayor group, Sport Minister group, and we've been trying hard on that, and especially after the moment that we have a couple of champions and such top-ranked fighters, I feel like we deserve that chance, as well.
“But I know that there are some situations, politically, maybe that will be impossible to do it right now, but hopefully whatever blessing Azerbaijan and Baku got, (Georgia) will have the same thing soon.
“Congrats Azerbaijan, congrats Baku for that. That's a big achievement. Besides being a fighter, I understand how great it could be for tourism, the economy, for sports, for marketing of the country. A lot of people are gonna hear about it, and that's why I want to bring the UFC to Georgia one day.”
As well as bringing a UFC event back to his homeland, Chikadze still has his sights set on delivering another UFC world title to Georgia, and he hopes that a big win in Kansas City will set him up for a shot against a top contender as he looks to position himself for a shot at gold in the not-too-distant future.
“I’m not a new guy in the UFC. I've been here for a while, and I’ve showed a lot of support to them, as well,” he said.
“I feel like, after a great performance, something big is going to come in my career.
“The only reason I’m here is to become a champion. I’m not here for money. I’m not here for fame. I promised my kids I’d bring a belt home one day, to my family, my country, Georgia, and they’re expecting that, so I have a responsibility for that.
“That's the only reason why I'm here, and I hope this fight’s gonna (give me) credit for my future career to (help me) on the way to the belt.”
The best way to get that shine is with a highlight-reel victory, and Chikadze vowed to showcase his full arsenal in Kansas City on fight night.
“I’m coming to take over everything,” he stated.
“I’m in his home town, and I’m coming here to kill, so you guys are going to see a lot of fireworks.”
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