Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images
Ask, and you shall receive. If you’re Giga Chikadze, at least.
On Satuday night at UFC VEGAS 13, Giga Chikadze kept his UFC record unblemished with a beautiful first-round TKO finish of opponent Jamey Simmons. That earned the Georgian fighter his first performance bonus in the Octagon, and extended his winning streak to seven (five in the UFC).
It seems like it’s time for a step up in competition for Chikadze and during his post-fight interview, he had a name in mind – featherweight stalwart Jeremy Stephens.
Well, it looks like he’s going to get his wish. Stephens took to social media to verbally accept the fight, and wants it do go down before the end of 2020:
Nice fight @giga_chikadze I accept for December buttcheeks let’s go @ufc
— Jeremy Stephens (@LiLHeathenMMA) November 8, 2020
Stephens (28-18, 1 NC, 15-17, 1 NC UFC) last competed in May, where he was stopped by Calvin Kattar. He hasn’t picked up a victory since February of 2018, and has dropped four in a row overall (with a No Contest in the middle). But the “Lil Heathen” is still ranked as the number eight contender in the 145-pound division, and is a very solid test for Chikadze.
It’s not immediately clear if the UFC wants to go in this direction with both men, but the bout sounds pretty interesting to me.