Returning to action for the first time since July of 2024, Georgian featherweight Giga Chikadze has drawn David Onama at UFC Kansas City this weekend.
The bout, originally booked for UFC Vegas 105, was pushed back a few weeks, and arrives with Chikadze (15-4) still ranked #12 in the 145lb division, while coming off a loss against Arnold Allen. Onama, meanwhile, is not ranked, something that Chikadze touched on during Wednesday’s UFC Kansas City media day.
“I’m an MMA fan, and I’m a fan of each fighter who decides to be in the octagon and who [does] their hard work to be here, and who reaches that level,” the former kickboxer, known for his “Giga Kick,” said when asked to assess his opponent. “As an opponent, if you ask me, I’m not going to say nice things. In general, he’s a great fighter, he has some knockout skills. I look at him as a good athlete, and good, competitive fighter. That’s all I can say at the moment. I can speak about him highly after the fight.”
After the fight, should all go well, Chikadze will be looking for bigger names. He sees fighting the unranked Onama as a quid pro quo situation more or less.
“I feel like that’s an investment for me. Fighting somebody who’s not ranked, I’m going to expect something after. Something big from the UFC,” stated Chikadze. “I do something for them, they do something for me.”
“I’m here to become a champion, that’s the only reason I’m in the UFC. I’m not here just to get paid. And that’s it.”
The featherweight division is in an interesting spot at the moment. Just two weeks ago at UFC 314 in Miami, Alexander Volkanovski reclaimed the 145lb title at age 36. Ilia Topuria had vacated the belt to move to lightweight, and with Diego Lopes falling to Volkanovski for that vacant title, Movsar Evloev and Yair Rodriguez appear to be the front-runners for title shots.
Rodriguez, who defeated Bellator great Patricio Pitbull at UFC 314, revealed a title shot had been promised to him, despite the fact that he was coming off a loss prior to the Pitbull fight.
“Yair beating someone who is not in the UFC and getting a title shot, I don’t think that’s the right call,” Chikadze opined on Wednesday. “But whatever the UFC decides, that’s that.”
Watch Giga Chikadze’s full UFC Kansas City media day appearance above.
