Giga Chikadze believes he has earned a higher ranking in the featherweight division and expects to see a new number next to his name on Monday morning.
Chikadze earned his third consecutive technical knockout win, this time over a man he considered an “absolute legend” in Edson Barboza during the main event of UFC Vegas 35 on Saturday night. Chikadze and Barboza traded fast punches and vicious kicks over the course of three rounds, but it was the Georgian fighter who was getting the better of the exchanges. Chikadze wobbled Barboza with a combination toward the end of the third round and pushed for a finish, which he got once the referee stepped in to stop the fight.