Giga Chikadze wants his respect.
The Georgian striker is fresh off the biggest win of his career after finishing Edson Barboza in his most recent outing. Chikadze showcased just how good his pinpoint striking is en route to the signature victory. He believes the showing was enough to boost him further up the ranks than it did.
“I was ranked 10th and finished 9th, definitely, but what type of name? It’s Edson Barboza, you know? He knocked down all of his opponents in featherweight. He even knocked down Dan [Hooker], he knocked down multiple times [Makwan Amirkhani], and he’s done the same to Shane Burgos. So I finished him. I finished him. I outstruck him. How they can just put me in one more stage on rankings? I’m not top 8. I was hoping to get at least the top 3. And if not top 3, at least top 5.
“So now, I’m top 8. I feel like these rankings work different. I feel like I’m the #1. I feel like I’m the people’s champ. So it bothered me for two days, but now, I don’t really care. I know I’m gonna get very soon what I deserve and what I want.”
Giga Chikadze (14-2) finds himself on a nine-fight win streak and is undefeated since joining the UFC. The kickboxer has picked up three ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses in just as many outings. With such an impressive run going, it makes sense that Chikadze considers himself the cream of the crop in a stacked class. In fact, he is so confident that Chikadze is willing to serve as backup for the upcoming Brian Ortega/Alexander Volkanovski bout scheduled for later this month.
Do you think Giga Chikadze has what it takes to compete with the elite at 145lbs?
