FILE – Giga Chikadze (L) of Georgia celebrates after defeating Irwin Rivera (R) of the United States in their featherweight fight during UFC Fight Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 16, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images / AFP
Giga Chikadze defeated Brazilian Edson Barboza by TKO in the third round on Saturday night in his featherweight main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
The referee ended the fight at 1:44 of the third round after the Georgian surprised Barboza with a punch and finished him off with a blast on the floor.
Chikadze paid tribute to Barboza afterwards.
“Cheers to one of the greatest fighters of all time, Edson Barboza. You motivated me, bro, when I was a kickboxer, ”he said.
The victory was Chikadze’s third consecutive TKO. Improved to 14-2.
Chikadze finished the fight with 70 strikes in total against Barboza’s 33. Barboza fell to 22-10.
Chikadze’s notoriety has grown with his mighty Giga Kick, but he let it be known that it is not all he does.
“I’m not just a kicker guy, I kick people,” Chikadze said afterward.
In a previous fight, Bryan Battle won by submission over Gilbert Urbina in their middleweight fight. The battle ended his battle with a bare butt choke at 2:15 in Round 2. Urbina had been controlling the fight up to that point, including two takedowns and landing more punches.
Other winners on the main card were Ricky Turcios, Daniel Rodríguez, Andre Petroski and Gerald Meerschaert.
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