Giga Chikadze Is Bringing The Entertainment

In comes Allen, the No. 6 ranked featherweight contender coming off back-to-back losses against some of the division’s best in BMF Champion Max Holloway and the undefeated Movsar Evloev. Even though Allen lost on the judges’ scorecards in both outings, Chikadze believes his UFC 304 opponent proved he’s one of the best at 145 pounds.

“He looked great,” Chikadze said of Allen’s last two performances. “With Max, I feel like he didn’t give his best at the beginning of the rounds maybe because of the respect or maybe because Max was too big with his height, but at the end of the fight, we all saw he was doing great; he was really comfortable moving forward. And with Evloev, the judges gave Evloev win but, in my eyes, [Allen] won the fight, so.

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“I believe Allen is a championship level fighter. I believe he’s Top 5, one of those guys that if you beat him then it’s going to take you to the title.  I believe [it’s] my chance to get into the Top 5 and I’m looking for the title after.”

But after two consecutive losses, Chikadze feels the pressure of fighting in his home country on a massive pay-per-view card may get the better of Allen once the Octagon door closes.

“To be honest, he lost his two fights and he has a lot of pressure from the fans fighting from England,” Chikadze said. “He’ll be super careful, super stressed maybe in the fight, so he’ll come and try to mix up a little bit of the striking with wrestling so he can make it a boring fight and somehow make it a decision fight to win. That’s what I think he’s going to do, but I’ll make sure this fight stays exciting, and I’ll bring some ninja stuff in the game and make it entertaining.”

To help prepare for the biggest fight of his professional mixed martial arts career, the two-time European Champion in Karate called in good friend and Top 10 lightweight contender Beneil Dariush to sharpen up his ground game.

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“I’m really excited to step into the Octagon,” Chikadze said. “He brings an interesting style in the Octagon. In MMA, he mixes up his style very well. You guys know what I do the best so I will be there like a sniper.

“He’s a southpaw striker [that] mixes [in] grappling and wrestling. I have my teammate, my dear brother Beneil Dariush helping me in the camp and I’m super happy he had the time for me to step up and help in training. Who could be a better training partner than him for this fight, right?”

If both fighters bring their A-game on Saturday, fans at the Co-op Live should be in for a treat. Combined, they’ve scored 16 knockouts and 10 first-round finishes. While this could be one of the best featherweight fights of the summer, Chikadze hopes he doesn’t have to share a bonus reward with his English counterpart.

“I feel like this fight is going to be one of the best fights,” Chikadze said. “I’m looking forward to finishing it fast so we don’t get the Fight of the Night bonus; Performance of the Night bonus I will get, but I definitely feel like this is a more exciting fight than the rest of the card. I met a couple of fans. For them, this fight is like the main event.”