Hey Pussy, Are You Still There?
Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway suffered an undisclosed injury and was forced to withdraw from his Yair Rodriguez main event, scheduled for the UFC Vegas 31 card on July 17 inside APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Matchmakers were quick to get ahold of Giga Chikadze and “Ninja” didn’t waste any time agreeing to replace the “Blessed” ex-champ. But it seems Rodriguez is dragging his feet which is why Chikadze is taking his case public.
“Max Holloway pulled out from the fight with Yair Rodriguez due to injury. UFC called me to replace him, and of course I agreed,” Chikadze told his Instagram followers. “Now we’re waiting for Yair. This guy didn’t fight for 20 or 21 months. Guess what I was doing in this time? I was fighting, fighting and fighting. I’ve fought six times, I beat all my opponents. This guy started to play games. It’s been a few days. I haven’t heard back. Hopefully he’s going to show up July 17, but I heard he’s a little bit of a pussy. He didn’t show up four times with Zabit (Magomedsharipov), and I heard he did everything to pull out from this fight. I don’t think the guy is scared to be in UFC, but hopefully now he’s going to be meet me in front face-to-face and we’re going to talk. I can’t wait.”
The 32 year-old Chikadze (13-2), ranked No. 10 at 145 pounds, has racked up eight consecutive wins — six straight under the UFC banner — including last May’s technical knockout victory over Cub Swanson, his ninth finish in 13 wins.
As for Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC), he’s been on the sidelines since capturing a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN 6 back in late 2019, just his third appearance since losing to Frankie Edgar nearly four years back.
Hopefully “Pantera” puts pen to paper within the next few days.