Ion Cutelaba vs. Magomed Ankalaev at light heavyweight and Mike Davis vs. Giga Chikadze at featherweight are the latest additions to UFC Norfolk.
The UFC Norfolk card continues to grow. Alongside Marcin Tybura vs. Sergey Spivak, two more bouts were revealed Thursday. The first sees light heavyweights in action, as Ion Cutelaba will take on Magomed Ankalaev. The second scrap added to the event’s official card sees featherweights Mike Davis and Giga Chikadze lined up.
Cutelaba (15–4, 1NC) enters UFC Norfolk off a big stoppage over Khalil Rountree Jr. back at UFC Copenhagen this past September. The Moldovan heavyweight known as ‘The Hulk’ is 3-2 in his last five, with one of those two losses coming in a Fight of the Night effort against Jared Cannonier.
Anaklaev (13–1) has won three straight in the octagon. The Dagestani fighter has picked up wins over ONE Championship alum Marcin Prachnio, Brave CF veteran Klidson Abreu, and last time out, EFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Dalcha Lungiambula. Cutelaba, however, represents his biggest challenge, arguably, since Ankalaev’s UFC debut against Paul Craig.
On the featherweight side, Mike Davis, who lost on Dana White’s Contender Series against Sodiq Yusuff in 2018, will be making his third trip to the octagon. Davis joined the party early last year, taking a short-notice fight against Gilbert Burns. While he was submitted by Burns, Davis bounced back with a finish of Thomas Gifford at UFC Tampa in October. The fight wound up controversial, not due to being a quick stoppage, but rather because it was allowed to go on as long as it did.
Davis now looks to make it two in a row against Giga Chikadze (8-2). A kickboxer, Chikadze previously appeared on the Contender Series himself, but like Davis came up short. However, a pair of wins on the regional circuit punched his ticket to the big show. Chikadze won his octagon debut against Brandon Davis, and will look to make it two straight in the organization, and four overall, next month in Norfolk.
UFC Norfolk takes place February 29, 2020 at the Chartwell Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The main event sees Henry Cejudo’s recently vacated title up for grabs by the winner of Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo.
