Giga Chikadze Feels Built For The Octagon

“He brings, first of all, a lot of excitement,” Chikadze said. “That’s why Cub is good. He’s good at striking, good in boxing, good in kicking and wrestling and the ground game. I don’t think he’s going to be something surprising because I know exactly what he’s doing. He’s good everywhere, but there are the levels above the good too in some things, and that’s why I feel that I am the best striker in the organization, and now, even my wrestling and ground game is good, so I think it’s an exciting fight, but I’m going to end this fight with a finish.”

Although finding that first finish in the UFC took Chikadze longer than one might’ve expected upon his entrance to the roster (each of his seven professional wins before the UFC were finishes), he draws confidence from having been in “deep water.” That kind of Octagon time is routinely cited as irreplaceable and irreplicable.

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“I feel that this is what I’m built for,” he said. “This is my home, and I’m just enjoying every single second I’m spending in the Octagon.”

Another aspect to Chikadze’s career thus far is the fact that he hasn’t really garnered the kind of buzz around his fights that he feels is appropriate. Perhaps that lack of hype is manufactured motivation from Chikadze’s point of view, but in the talent-laden featherweight division, Chikadze certainly has the resume that lends one to think he’s absolutely someone to watch.

His striking talent, supplemented with his ever-growing Octagon experience, seems to benefit Chikadze tenfold. The general belief is that Chikadze, while a great striker, isn’t as versed as he needs to be on the ground, a claim he refutes, and he believes he is primed to make a run up the featherweight ladder in 2021 whether people see him as a dark horse or not.

“I was an underdog in all my fights,” Chikadze said. “Finally, I became the favorite. Like, finally. Yes, my ground game is very underrated, and my wrestling as well, but we have wrestling in the blood. Georgians, they have wrestling. They have it in the DNA. Finally, it’s waking up.”

Swanson is the kind of opponent that can multiply the respect people hold for Chikadze, especially if he finishes the Californian. That said, he understands the kind of test Swanson presents and sees him as much more than a veteran stepping-stone.

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Fighting in the co-main slot is the biggest spotlight in which Chikadze has stood so far in his career, and he says he is going to expect main event opportunities to come soon if he gets the job done. Ultimately, though, he wants to show people – peers and fans alike – that he is a fighter “without any gaps,” one that, by year’s end, could be within shouting distance of the ultimate goal: UFC gold.

“I want people to see me as the best MMA fighter,” he said. “If the fight goes by decision, I want to be, all these 15 minutes, a dominant fighter everywhere it goes. Striking, wrestling or ground game. I have a tough opponent, but I’m promising to knock this guy out.”