UFC expert picks and predictions: Calvin Kattar boxes and Giga Chikadze kicks -- who'll find his range?

UFC expert picks and predictions: Calvin Kattar boxes and Giga Chikadze kicks – who’ll find his range?

]

The UFC’s first main event of 2022 is a big fight for the 145-pound division, as Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze look to bolster their featherweight title hopes.

Kattar (22-5) hasn’t fought in almost exactly one year. “The Boston Finisher” had a rough night at the office in January 2021, when he lost to Max Holloway via unanimous decision. The 33-year-old contender has had ample time to rest and heal up, and will look to make a statement against one of the hottest fighters in the division.

Chikadze (14-2) is looking every bit the part of a title challenger. He’s 7-0 in the UFC, with finishes over Edson Barboza and Cub Swanson in his last two outings.

Who has the edge in this crucial matchup? ESPN asked several experts for their breakdowns and picks.

Editor’s note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

James Krause, GLORY MMA coach and UFC welterweight

Calvin Kattar, left, hasn’t fought since a brutal defeat against Max Holloway in January 2021. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

How Kattar wins: Kattar is more of a traditional boxer. He has good power in his hands, and he’s just so damn tough. I feel like he’s got to move inside, test Chikadze. The UFC has been matching Giga up with other strikers. This is MMA, man. You have to fit in and at least see, check the dude’s takedown defense. Is it as good as he says it is? I would at least see. Giga comes from a kickboxing background, and a lot of times those guys aren’t good in the clinch. I think the clinch could prove to be important for Kattar.

How Chikadze wins: He’s a world-class kickboxer. Those body kicks add up, and he’s been in there with some very high-level kickboxers. As far as technical kickboxing, he has the advantage – I mean, he’s got a kick named after him. He has to be able to stay in the kicking range, though.

X factor: Range.

Prediction: Too close to call for me.

Marc Montoya, Factory X coach

Calvin Kattar, left, has very good boxing skills that he should use against Giga Chikadze on Saturday’s matchup. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

In a clash between featherweights aiming for a title shot, Calvin Kattar tries to rebound from a tough loss by taking on fast-rising Giga Chikadze. UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze

Saturday, Jan. 15, UFC Apex, Las Vegas

• Main card: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+

• Prelims: 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+ Subscribe to ESPN+ to get exclusive live UFC events, weigh-ins and more; Dana White’s Contender Series; and more exclusive MMA content.

How Kattar wins: Calvin is a really good boxer. He’s going to want to put pressure on Chikadze. Stay in that boxing range, see those kicks come in, possibly threaten a takedown. It’s really a range battle. Can Calvin keep it in a boxing range and half-wrestle, or will Giga keep it at a distance? Calvin’s got to have Chikadze going backwards and he needs his own back to the center of the cage. He’s got to keep Chikadze on his back leg and make him feel the pressure of the cage. It’s not smart to throw kicks when you’re against the cage because you have nowhere to go. It opens you up to the takedown, so that’s where Calvin’s boxing can really be effective, when he has Giga’s back to the cage.

How Chikadze wins: His striking experience outside of the UFC is to his benefit. I think you’ll see him finding a home for those kicks and either them adding up or him finishing the fight with one of those kicks. He’s good at throwing kicks and then feinting that kicking motion again, and throwing punches instead after his opponents’ reaction. Then ending that combination with a kick. He’s very good at that.

X factor: Momentum. Calvin hasn’t fought in a year. Where is he at mentally? Giga is on a roll right now. That could be an X factor.

Prediction: I think Kattar beats him. He does a good job of cutting off the ring and using wrestling to help his striking. Competition-wise, Kattar has also fought at a higher level.

John Wood, Syndicate MMA coach

Giga Chikadze, left, uses the distance very well to be able to land his attack. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

How Kattar wins: Calvin’s got really good boxing. He needs to manage that boxing range and stay away from those kicks. He needs to stay sharp and be able to counter the kicks, get to the inside, make it a dirty fight. His boxing is his sharpest tool, and I’d be leaning on that in a big way. He was outboxed by Max Holloway, but Max is a different animal. Max is one of the best strikers in MMA. If I was Calvin, I would maybe try to push into the clinch and try to dirty box. But so far, not many have been successful with that and Giga will be expecting that.

How Chikadze wins: This is his toughest test for sure. The guy is an amazing striker. We haven’t seen him too much on the ground, and that might be because of his takedown defense. His setups and traps, the things he does, are among the elite when it comes to striking. His kicking, distance and versatility are what’s going to win him this fight.

X factor: This is Calvin’s first fight since Holloway. That was a brutal, brutal fight. Those are sometimes the kinds of fights that can change people. Now, Calvin is obviously so tough – but it’s going to be interesting to see how he comes back from that.

Prediction: Chikadze by decision.

Eric Nicksick, Xtreme Couture coach

Giga Chikadze, right, can win the fight if he takes advantage of his kicking skills. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

How Kattar wins: Feints, lateral movement. Knowing where Giga kicks the most, knowing when he drops into southpaw he’s usually looking for that open-stance kick to the body. I really think Calvin has underrated wrestling skill. When you really break both of these guys down, I think Calvin needs to get to some offensive wrestling at some point because it might take away from Giga’s kick game, if he’s able to score some takedowns. If he’s able to catch a few of those kicks and work takedowns off that, at the very least, I think Calvin should get into the clinch and dirty box this guy against the cage.

How Chikadze wins: Obvious answer is his kicks, but it’s important to break down details of what makes his kick game successful – and I think that’s the angles they come from and the way he’s able to find the body. It doesn’t have a loopy roundness to it, it’s more of a linear kind of stab where it rotates at the end. Every kick that comes out of him almost looks the same. It’s hard to know where his kick placement is going. He does it well by his head placement, eye placement and what he does with his chest. You can go back to one of his first fights in the UFC: He poked the kid to the body with the teep kick, then came right back upstairs with the head kick, and what he was looking for was the defensive reads. That’s my biggest thing for him, keeping that kick range.

X factor: Distance management. Who keeps it at a distance needed to amplify their game the most?

Prediction: May the best man win. I’m biased. I know both guys really well and even worked a bit with Calvin. I don’t think I can make a pick on this one.

Ian Parker, ESPN betting expert

Coming off his loss to Max Holloway, Kattar returns to the cage after a year layoff to try and get back in the win column. Standing in his way is top prospect Chikadze. Kattar is as tough as they come, however stylistically, Chikadze is a nightmare matchup for him. In order for Kattar to get past Chikadze, he has to use some form of wrestling to keep his opponent guessing. Otherwise, I believe this fight will go similar to the Holloway fight. Chikadze will be the better striker and has devastating kicks to go along with his sniper like striking mentality. As long as Chikadze can stay off of his back, I strongly believe he gets it done here.

Prediction: Chikadze wins.

Flashback To White Worrying Kattar Would Die After Holloway Loss

]

As we now know, Calvin Kattar did survive his fight against Max Holloway last year, but Dana White wasn’t so sure that would be the case while watching the fight.

One year ago immediately following the Holloway/Kattar fight, UFC President Dana White said thought the main event between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar should’ve been stopped after the fourth round.

In a video the UFC uploaded, it showed White freaking out thinking Kattar might die due to all the damage he sustained.

After the fourth round, White spoke to UFC executive Hunter Campbell and said he wanted Kattar to the hospital immediately after the fight.

“He took so much fcking punishment in this fight, I’m freaking out a little bit, man. I don’t know. I don’t like it. This reminds me of the kind of fight where the fight’s over, and he walks out back and fcking dies. I think that fcking Herb Dean should’ve stopped it before the (fifth) round. He was wobbling all over the fcking place,” White said on the UFC’s Grand Stage video.

“When we had him up against the cage, that’s when he had him,” Campbell said.

“He should have stopped the fight right there,” White said.

Kattar’s Manager Explains Non-Stoppage

Weeks later, Kattar’s manager, Tyson Chartier, offered the following explanation for why the fight was not stopped:

“It definitely did [get close to us stopping it],” Chartier stated to MMAFighting. “I’m sitting in the corner and every time things were getting really bad, Calvin’s back was to us, and we see Max, and we see Herb. There was a couple of times when we were like, ‘F*ck, is he gonna stop it?’ And I was hoping Herb would stop it. And then all of a sudden we saw he wasn’t going to stop it, we were like, ‘Should we throw in the towel?’ And then I’m thinking we’re gonna throw in the towel, and then Calvin would crack him. Then he would get off the fence and start landing shots. Like, damn it!”

“There was one point in the fourth round where I looked at Jake [Mainini], the Muay Thai coach, and I was like, ‘Dude, Max is getting tired.’ It was crazy because he was beating us up, but you could see it in his eyes like, ‘Ughh,’ and then he tried to wrestle, tried to take us down, he was getting tired from beating us up and then Calvin landed a good shot again and the round ended.”

The good news was that Calvin Kattar ended up healing up his injuries and there was no significant life-altering damage. However, “The Boston Finisher” did sustain a plethora of injuries.

Tonight will be the first time he competes again since absorbing a record number of strikes from “Blessed.” He will be featured in the UFC Vegas 46 against another top-level striker, Giga Chikadze.

UFC on ESPN 32: Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze odds, picks and prediction

]

Kevin Erickson

Sportsbook Wire

In a featherweight bout in the main event, Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze meet Saturday at UFC on ESPN 32 - also known as UFC Vegas 46 - at UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nev. Below, we analyze the UFC on ESPN 32: Kattar vs. Chikadze odds and lines, with picks and predictions.

The card can be viewed on ESPN+ with the prelims at 5 p.m. ET and the main card starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.

Kattar heads into this fight giving up two inches in reach. The veteran does hold a 5.07-to-3.76 advantage in significant strikes landed per minute, while Chikadze has a slight advantage in significant strike accuracy percentage.

Kattar suffered a unanimous-decision loss against Max Holloway last time out in the main event at UFC Fight Island 7 in Jan. 2021. He has never lost consecutive bouts in his mixed martial arts career. Three of his past four fights have gone the distance.

The Georgian fighter Chikadze has three straight KO/TKO wins, including a third-round victory over Edson Barboza in the main event at UFC Vegas 35 Aug. 28, 2021. He had four consecutive fights go the distance prior to the streak of KO/TKO wins.

UFC on ESPN 32 Kattar vs. Chikadze: Odds and lines

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:33 a.m. ET.

Fight result (2-way line) : Kattar +190 (bet $100 to win $190) | Chikadze -250 (bet $250 to win $100): Kattar +190 (bet $100 to win $190) | Chikadze -250 (bet $250 to win $100) Will the fight go the distance? (Yes +130 | No -180)

Play our new free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now !

UFC on ESPN 32 Kattar vs. Chikadze: Odds, lines, predictions and picks

Records: Kattar (22-5-0) | Chikadze (14-2-0)

KATTAR (+190) is a value play with an opportunity to nearly double up with a victory. He is a punching machine who will be in very good shape as long as he can avoid going to the canvas with Chikadze.

The American is the biggest challenge Chikadze has faced since joining the UFC. Kattar has four KO/TKO victories under his belt across the past eight bouts, with three decision losses across the past seven outings. Kattar will do everything in his power to make sure this doesn’t go to the judges.

Neither of these fighters has much interest in the judges deciding their fate, and neither has involved them much lately. As such, playing FIGHT TO GO THE DISTANCE? NO (-180) is the play. It’s not terribly overpriced, and a good play considering all of the KO/TKO victories for each fighter lately.

In addition, KATTAR BY TKO/KO (+450) is worth a small-unit play for a chance to turn a tidy little profit.

Watch this card with ESPN+ by signing up here.

Visit MMA Junkie for more fight news and analysis.

If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW. Please gamble responsibly.

Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. SportsbookWire on Twitter andus on Facebook.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

Giga Chikadze has a ’ton of respect’ for Calvin Kattar, knows he can knock him out

]

Giga Chikadze (14-2, 9 KOs) expects to extend his nine-fight winning streak Saturday at UFC Vegas 46 when he meets Calvin Kattar in the main event.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports. And my guest right now is in the main event of UFC Vegas 46, a featherweight clash with Calvin Kattar, Giga Chikadze. Giga, welcome, really good fight. I’m looking forward to this one. This should be a lot of fun.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Right, Kevin. Thank you.

KEVIN IOLE: Well, you know, are you a little disappointed first of all that you didn’t get any consideration for the Alex Volkanovski fight? I saw that you kind of were throwing your hat in the ring when Max Holloway fell out for the featherweight championship. Did you feel like you had a shot at that?

GIGA CHIKADZE: Yeah, a little bit, of course. You know, I’m concen– I’m concentrated on my fight first, you know. But I don’t know. Maybe that’s even better because I win the fight. I get my shot anyway.

So they can fight, and then I have more time to prepare, you know? Maybe winner after, so I’m not really mad on that too much. So first, I have a big mission. I’m facing my toughest opponent I ever faced, I believe. And then we’ll see what happens.

KEVIN IOLE: I was going to bring that up because I think if there’s any criticism of you at this point, and you know, it’s hard to criticize your record. But you haven’t faced the rank guys yet, so this is now Calvin is going to be the highest– highest ranked guy you face. Do you think that after this fight that, you know, from that point on it’ll be, you know, top 5 and above for the rest of your way?

GIGA CHIKADZE: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I just needed somebody to fight from to fight. And that’s why I took this fight with Calvin. I have a sign of respect of him what he has done in this sport. He’s very strong guy, very tough guy. But nobo– no one was available for me to fight at the time I was asking. And some of them were injured.

Story continues

Some of them, they were already scheduled for the fight. So Calvin Kattar’s name came out. And I happily took this fight because he’s ranked 5. And that’s exactly what I need right now.

KEVIN IOLE: Calvin, coming off a tough loss to Max Holloway, I– I’m sure you’ve looked at that fight. Is there anything that you’ve seen in his style that you feel like, you know, you can take advantage of?

GIGA CHIKADZE: That fight? I don’t– I don’t see Calvin With only one fight, you know? That fight definitely was not good fight for him. But he still throws some bombs in this fight. Any time could–

Max is a tough guy. He has a great chin, and he can take punches. But if there will be some other guy, Calvin might– would get some knockout to win as well, even in the last rounds, he still was throwing bombs.

I– I watched Calvin Cattar’s career UFC career very closely. Since he got into UFC. I studied him well. And I see his fight– I saw his fights and techniques, which I like it. It’s funny that, before I got to UFC, I was checking out his feints, some of his boxing with the weapons and techniques. And the guy’s good, man. He’s a very heavy puncher, which in my– in our division, there is not many people who knocks people out.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

GIGA CHIKADZE: That’s what I like and what’s– what I– what’s– it’s why I’m more motivated for this fight. No one has ever finished Calvin Kattar. Let’s see now what’s going to happen when you face the world champion in karate and kickboxing.

KEVIN IOLE: I was going to bring up to you the fact that, you know, there haven’t been a lot of karate guys, you know, GSP, you know, but– and– and Lyoto Machida but, there haven’t been a lot of karate people who have gone to the top in the UFC. So number one, why A, why do you think that is, and– and B, like do you feel like your style is unusual enough that, you know, it– it creates issues every time somebody has prepared for you.

KEVIN IOLE: You know the– why? Because karate has– so karate has a great weapons and the base and the style. It gives you leverage to move and from the distance and a lot of the kick weapons, which does not really practice some other sports even in Muay Thai and kickboxing that is not similar kicks like karate.

There are like great kicks in kickboxing. But if you have a good check and you can move well, you can definitely avoid the kickboxing kick weapons. But in karate, that’s more like tricky weapons coming. Some of the feint kicks and some of the spinning kicks, I mean, there are some Spandex in kickboxing and Muay Thai as well. But I feel like a more entertaining way is in karate.

Same time, the timing, the precision, all these comes from karate. But definitely, you need to kickboxing as well to understand how the punches coming to you. You just mentioned what– that– what’s the difference, right?

So in kickboxing, they do a lot of more, like mixing up the combinations of kick and punch and kick and punch. And sometimes, when you mix it up these, and you forgot for the– off the base, you stand tall. You need this– stand tall stance for these long combinations. But karate is more like a sniper-style.

And I’m kind of usi– using both. It’s not only one style I have. When I need to finish the guy, I finish with kickboxing style, the last few combos. But before that, I’m trying to stay sniper and pick shots. And once I need it, then I’m on my button, you know? I push it, and go forward.

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, Ga, I think one of the things that makes you interesting is, you know, when you talk about that sniper-style, you have that great quickness. And your kicks are so fast. And I think that’s a thing that a lot of fighters. Do– do you find they have trouble, you know, dealing with that speed of your kicks that you not only do they come from different angles that maybe they’re not used to, but also you have very quick kicks?

GIGA CHIKADZE: No, not really. I’m really comfortable with that. I’ve been doing this for all my life, you know. But I was practicing each kick thousands of times, not thousand kicks, one time like Bruce Lee, right?

So I did that pretty much all my life from both way. There was not only the orthodox style. Even I’m [INAUDIBLE]. My coach is my sensei from karate, always make me trained from both style. As a southpaw and orthodox, that’s why I feel really comfortable to switch some time and see how my opponent can react.

I can kick from both sides and stay the same, even from the southpaw. It’s funny. I have some of the weapons, which people call it now Giga Kick. It from comes from southpaw stance.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

GIGA CHIKADZE: They– they have not seen my boxing style from southpaw which I’m excited to bring some time. Maybe not in this fight, maybe in this fight. We will see how it goes.

KEVIN IOLE: What do you think, you know, from sparring like Terence Crawford, one of the best boxers in the world. And one of the things he’s great at is switching and– and fighting southpaw or– or right-handed. And– and what do you think causes trouble? I– is it because people train for a traditional stance and then when you switch southpaw it’s something that they haven’t prepared for. What is it that causes them trouble when you’re able to switch like that?

GIGA CHIKADZE: I feel like not everyone has the same level sparring partners with different– two different stances, you know?

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Even– I mean, it– it’s really hard to– you know, you– you only train with one or two or three guys, but there is so much different style. Let’s say some of the guys, they come in our gym some time and they bring their different style which are– I never really trained against that type of guys.

And it makes me think that, oh, I need to get better in this. I need to– I need to call this guy more and ask him to train with us, you know? And yeah, if you like– this sport is such a big sport that you cannot– you cannot get crazy good in– at very young age because you need to train with so many different type of sparring partners and teammates. Yeah.

KEVIN IOLE: Do you feel– you know, was that went over Barboza, you know, did that in your own mind kind of– I– know you were confident even going into that fight. But when you did what you did, and you finished Barboza, you know, only the best of the best are finishing Barboza, right? I mean, when you finish Barboza, did that take your confidence to another level?

GIGA CHIKADZE: Maybe, maybe not because I– I was sure that what I was doing. I called it earlier as well.

KEVIN IOLE: I remember.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Yeah, it’s like, you know, like this guy is a striker, amazing striker. Legend in the sport. But earlier, whatever I mentioned that I come from this background, I was on the highest stage in the sport. And you come there, and you try to strike with me? You’re mistaken, you know.

So I feel like I just proved it once again to that people who didn’t believe in me before because I’m a new name in the game. I just– I’m barely like two years here, you know? And I understand. And this guy has been more than 10 years in UFC and was entertaining everyone, myself as well. I was a fan. I am a fan of him.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah.

GIGA CHIKADZE: But yeah, I mean, I’m not talking about some different sports like wrestling or ground game, jiu-jitsu, right? I’m talking about in that sport where I was the best and where I am the best, so–

KEVIN IOLE: Exactly. Well, you know what? I think they’re giving you the respect now because Calvin Kattar is ranked number 5, and you were better than a 2 to 1 favorite to win this fight. So BetMGM has you have minus 250, so a lot of confidence being placed on you by the bookmakers.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Yeah, I mean, so far, I’ve been all the time the underdog, which– which make me more– more happier, because all my friends make it– make more money with that [INAUDIBLE].

KEVIN IOLE: Get a little bit of juice there. [LAUGHS]

GIGA CHIKADZE: Yeah, yeah, you know the all the judges, they– they– they– probably I’m like a hero there because in 2021, they made so much money on the– on my fights.

KEVIN IOLE: Oh, do they like gambling in Georgia? Is that what they do there?

GIGA CHIKADZE: Well, It’s a big there. Yeah, gambling is a big there. And they gamble on different sports, soccer mostly. But see some in UFC, they were making some good money, you know?

KEVIN IOLE: There we go. [INAUDIBLE]

GIGA CHIKADZE: I was getting a lot of messages. Thank you for giving me the whole budget salary of the whole year and stuff.

KEVIN IOLE: [LAUGHS] There you go. Well, let’s wrap it up with this. I know you’re confident you’re going to win this. Do you think you finished Calvin Kattar? How do you see this one going? Do– you have [INAUDIBLE]

GIGA CHIKADZE: A big– big challenge for me, you know? No one has finished Calvin Kattar. [INAUDIBLE]

KEVIN IOLE: Never been knocked down, never been knocked down.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Never been knocked down, never been finished. So definitely that makes me– gives me more hanger feeling to do that and letting witness how this feels like. So we’ll see how it goes, you know?

I’m– I’m going to go there. Be me. I’m going to make sure I win the fight, and I’m going to try to knock him out. I know I can get, so probably we’re going to see some new– new highlight.

KEVIN IOLE: New giga king. So I look forward to that. I will be there Saturday. Can’t wait to see it. Giga Chikadze, thank you so much for joining me, best of luck on Saturday.

GIGA CHIKADZE: Thank you. Appreciate.

UFC’s Giga Chikadze hopes to bring ‘ninja style’ to Calvin Kattar

]

Georgia is all the rage after Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship and October’s World Series victory by the Atlanta Braves.

Giga Chikadze wants to put a different Georgia on the map. And the Huntington Beach featherweight by way of the former Soviet republic, as he has lately in his UFC career, is hoping to do it emphatically.

“I mean, when you are ninja and you show up in your ninja mode in Octagon and do your thing in a ninja style?” Chikadze said with a chuckle. “That’s what happens, right?”

Chikadze takes his swagger and unblemished UFC record into UFC APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday when he squares off against fellow title contender Calvin Kattar in the first card and main event of 2022.

The former professional kickboxer has gone 7-0 since debuting in the UFC in 2019, but the key number here is nine. In MMA, Chikadze (14-2) is on a nine-fight win streak and has nine wins by knockout and nine first-round finishes.

Kattar (22-5), meanwhile, is coming off his ninth UFC fight in what was expected to be a highlight-reel, featherweight contender clash a year ago with former 145-pound champion Max Holloway. The result was a five-round, one-sided thrashing in which Holloway connected on a UFC-record 445 significant strikes, blasting past the mark of 290 he set against Brian Ortega at UFC 231, and landed 141 significant strikes in the fourth round alone, another UFC record for most in a single round.

“It didn’t work out my way, but I finished that fight the way I started – on two feet, you know?” said Kattar, who lost the decision by scores of 50-43, 50-43 and 50-42. “Props to Max, he fought a hell of a fight. And I definitely walked away from that fight with, you know, an understanding of kind of what he’s doing and things I’ll take with me for not only this next fight, but future fights.”

Chikadze, 33, has a lot of respect for his opponent’s striking – Kattar, also 33, has 11 wins by knockout and 10 first-round finishes – as well as his wrestling, acknowledging the Massachusetts native’s days as a standout high school wrestler.

The big test, he says, will be Kattar’s resolve after being on the receiving end of such a brutal beating. “We’ll see how he’s gonna handle it, you know … let’s see mentally how strong he is,” Chikadze said.

That trait is not in question when it comes to Chikadze. He uprooted his family from Georgia in March 2015 after spending time with a friend in Southern California and touring some of the gyms. Once he settled on Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, he continued kickboxing while starting to dabble in MMA.

In 2018, six months after ending his 46-fight kickboxing career, Chikadze fought for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. He was ahead on the scorecards after two rounds but got caught in a rear-naked choke in the final minute to lose the fight and, what he thought, was his shot at the UFC.

Later that night, Chikadze found himself at the same craps table at The Palms as White. The UFC president gave him some advice: Don’t worry. Get better at wrestling. Upgrade your ground game. You’ll be back.

“So that’s exactly what I did,” Chikadze recalled. “After a few weeks, I went back in the gym, I signed up in high school wrestling classes. You know, the beginning wrestling ABCs to learn, then I joined jiu-jitsu kids’ class. That’s all the work that put me back in UFC.”

Sure enough, after two quick wins on the Gladiator Challenge regional circuit, Chikadze was summoned by the UFC as a short-notice replacement. He came up with a split-decision win and followed it with another, then back-to-back unanimous decisions.

Then in late 2020, something clicked. He got his first UFC finish with a first-round knockout of Jamey Simmons prompted by a head kick.

“I found my timing, I found my style against wrestlers, not wrestlers, strikers, legends, whatever,” Chikadze said. “Whoever comes, I’m gonna finish him now.”

Chikadze followed that with two big wins over two big-name opponents: a first-round liver kick to Cub Swanson led to a TKO finish in May, followed by a knee to the midsection that was the beginning of the end in the third round for Edson Barboza in August.

Related Articles Alexander: The best moments of the Staples Center era Kattar appreciates what Chikadze has done in his short time in the UFC, but believes his unbeaten ways are short-lived.

“Anybody that can go 7-0 in the UFC, they’re doing something right,” Kattar said. “He’s found a way to win, but I just feel like I’m a different caliber opponent than he’s faced. And I feel like I got the tools to beat him.”

UFC on ESPN 32

Main event: Giga Chikadze (14-2) vs. Calvin Kattar (22-5)

When: Saturday

Where: UFC APEX, Las Vegas

How to watch: Prelims (2 p.m., ESPN+); main card (4 p.m.; ESPN/ESPN+)