Giga Chikadze Targets Submission Wins Soon, Wants To KO Kattar First

UFC featherweight contender Giga Chikadze is looking to prove that he’s not just an elite striker but also a well-rounded mixed martial artist.

Chikadze faces arguably the toughest test of his UFC career against Calvin Kattar at UFC Vegas 46. While…

Giga Chikadze

UFC featherweight contender Giga Chikadze is looking to prove that he’s not just an elite striker but also a well-rounded mixed martial artist.

Chikadze faces arguably the toughest test of his UFC career against Calvin Kattar at UFC Vegas 46. While Kattar is coming off of a tough loss to Max Holloway last year, he’s still regarded as one of the toughest brawlers in the featherweight division.

Chikadze knocked out the always-dangerous Edson Barboza in his last Octagon appearance but also showcased an improved grappling skillset in the win. He nearly had Barboza in trouble on the ground before transitioning back to his striking base.

During his UFC Vegas 46 pre-fight media scrum, Chikadze teased his game plan for his matchup with Kattar.

“I feel like he’s going to mix it up with a bit of the wrestling,” Chikadze said. “I think that’s going to be his plan because he is from a wrestling background. Then he has some nice boxing techniques. Either he’s going to box with me, or he’s gonna wrestle with me.

“Honestly, I really want to show the people how great my ground game became. I want to submit people eventually, very soon, and start submitting people. But because Calvin Kattar has never been knocked out, it gives me a little bit more motivation to finish him with striking.”

Chikadze later explained why he moved away from his grappling in his last victory over Barboza.

“Last time I really had the chance to finish Edson with submission, but like I said, I had to prove that I’m the best striker and this was the reason why I let it go. This time? I said that I’m the best boxer in the UFC too, so probably I’m gonna still go more to the strikes. But if I get a chance like I did with Edson, this time I’m not going to let it go.”

Chikadze could be one win away from a featherweight title shot after going back-and-forth on social media with Alexander Volkanovski. If he’s able to continue to improve his overall game, he could be an unstoppable force at 145 pounds for years to come.

What is your prediction for Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar?

Continue Reading Giga Chikadze Targets Submission Wins Soon, Wants To KO Kattar First at MMA News.

EXCLUSIVE | Bryce Mitchell Expects To Stop Edson Barboza

Bryce MitchellUFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell talked about his upcoming opponent Edson Barboza in an interview with LowKick MMA. Mitchell is expected to face off against Barboza on the March 5 event. Mitchell has been out of action with an injury since October of 2020. The undefeated Mitchell won his last fight against Andre Fili at UFC […]

Bryce Mitchell

UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell talked about his upcoming opponent Edson Barboza in an interview with LowKick MMA.

Mitchell is expected to face off against Barboza on the March 5 event. Mitchell has been out of action with an injury since October of 2020. The undefeated Mitchell won his last fight against Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 181 to bring his record to 14-0. He revealed in the interview that he has just started training a couple of months ago due to his injury.

Mitchell had a few fights on the table and as he said “he’d fight anyone”, but he was offered Barboza which excited him.

“It definitely excites you, and you better be ready when you’re fighting Edson Barboza. You know what he does to people. He spin kicks their head off, ya know? I’ve watched him for a long, long time, he’s been doing this for a long time.”

Bryce Mitchell touched on the style differentials between Edson Barboza and himself in the interview as well

“I think I’m going to win and that’s the most important thing…The fight’s going to start on the feet, so we’re definitely going to stand and all my fights started on the feet, so I stood with everybody that I go in there to fight. He’s not going to be any different. He ain’t fight any body exactly like me. There’s people that do stuff that I do, but he ain’t fight me before.”

Edson Barboza is a step up in competition for Mitchell, and is still one of the most dangerous strikers in the featherweight division. He is 2-2 in the division and many would argue that he should be 3-1.

Mitchell also predicted how the outcome between Barboza and himself would play out.

“I’m gonna cook him to the bone. It ought to be [a finish], not many people finish him. He’s hard to put away and if I put him away, especially in a certain manner, it’s pretty undeniable that I have a good skill set. Get a big finish, then a couple more and get the title shot. That’s what I’m wanting to do.”

Are you excited for this fight between Edson Barboza and Bryce Mitchell?

Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell Set For March 5 Fight Night

March 5 will play host to a serious clash of styles when scintillating striker Edson Barboza takes on undefeated submission upstart Bryce Mitchell.

MMA Junkie was the first to report the news of this featherweight bout on Thursday. This will be Mi…

Bryce Mitchell, Edson Barboza

March 5 will play host to a serious clash of styles when scintillating striker Edson Barboza takes on undefeated submission upstart Bryce Mitchell.

MMA Junkie was the first to report the news of this featherweight bout on Thursday. This will be Mitchell’s first fight of 2021 and the third Octagon appearance this year for the veteran Barboza. There is currently no venue or main event announced for this card.

It was just Tuesday that Mitchell put out an open challenge to his fellow featherweights in hopes of landing a fight. Less than 48 hours later, he got his wish in a willing Barboza stepping up to the plate.

The undefeated Mitchell is 5-0 in the UFC, 14-0 overall. On paper, there is little doubt on whether this bout will serve as the most difficult test of the 27-year-old prospect’s career. Mitchell most recently defeated another UFC veteran, Andre Fili, in his most recent bout in October of last year.

Edson Barboza has been partaking in battles and earning performance bonuses in the UFC for over a decade now. It wasn’t until last year that he decided to dive into the featherweight pool. Barboza has gone 2-2 since making the leap, most recently losing to fellow striking dynamo Giga Chikadze in August.

Make no mistake about it, though, Barboza has seen his hand raised at the end of UFC competition more times than not, including wins over the likes of Dan Hooker, Beneil Dariush, Anthony Pettis, and Paul Felder.

MMA News will keep you in the loop on further updates attached to this March 5 Fight Night event.

Who’s your pick, Edson Barboza or Bryce Mitchell?

Continue Reading Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell Set For March 5 Fight Night at MMA News.

REPORT | Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell Set For March 5

Bryce MitchellEdson Barboza will look to get back to winning ways against top featherweight prospect Bryce Mitchell on March 5 according to a report from MMA Junkie. The Brazilian suffered a third-round TKO defeat at the hands of Giga Chikadze last time out. Prior to that, Barboza had been impressive since making the drop down to […]

Bryce Mitchell

Edson Barboza will look to get back to winning ways against top featherweight prospect Bryce Mitchell on March 5 according to a report from MMA Junkie.

The Brazilian suffered a third-round TKO defeat at the hands of Giga Chikadze last time out. Prior to that, Barboza had been impressive since making the drop down to featherweight. He picked up back-to-back wins over Shane Burgos and Makwan Amirkhani after suffering a very controversial split decision defeat to Dan Ige in his division debut.

Bryce Mitchell Returns After A Long Injury Induced Layoff

‘Thug Nasty’ has been sidelined for more than a year after suffering a hand injury in a career-best win over Andre ‘Touchy’ Fili at UFC Vegas 12 in October 2020.

The 27-year-old spoke with LowKickMMA’s James Lynch back in June about approaching his hand injury with caution, hence his lengthy layoff from fighting.

“It was broken in that (Andre) Fili fight but it’s doing a lot better,” Mitchell said. “I’ve got my full grip strength back and I’m just making sure I don’t punch anything too hard too soon. That’d be a rebreak and that’s why I’m waiting for a little while before I take another fight, but I’m in good shape and I’ve been training and, you know, I could fight right now if I had to. If I got like real bad debt or something in like a week (I could fight) if I had to. But I’m just waiting until my hand heals a little bit better till I go pursue one.

“I don’t think that it will happen again if I take my time to heal it and then I change my punching method,” Mitchell added. “You know, I was throwing as hard as I possibly could. So I probably should do that more accurately next time. If you’re swinging as hard as you can, you need to be a little bit more accurate, so I’ll be safe with it and wait for a little while, till it heals up.

“I don’t think that it’s going to bother me again, but if it does break on the first punch of the next fight, I’m just going to keep fighting like I did last time. If I have to fight with a broke hand, I’m fine with that too, but I hope it don’t do that.”

Who do you think will win on March 5? Edson Barboza or Bryce Mitchell?

Giga Chikadze Says He’s The People’s Champ Of The UFC FW Division

Giga Chikadze wants his respect.  The Georgian striker is fresh off the biggest win of his career after finishing Edson Barboza in his most recent outing. Chikadze showcased just how good his pinpoint striking is en route to the signature victory….

Giga Chikadze wants his respect.  The Georgian striker is fresh off the biggest win of his career after finishing Edson Barboza in his most recent outing. Chikadze showcased just how good his pinpoint striking is en route to the signature victory. He believes the showing was enough to boost him further up the ranks than […]

Continue Reading Giga Chikadze Says He’s The People’s Champ Of The UFC FW Division at MMA News.

Edson Barboza Targeting December Return Following Giga Chikadze Defeat

BarbozaEdson Barboza is looking to compete before the end of the year. Barboza saw his two-fight winning streak in the featherweight division halted after getting TKO’d by Giga Chikadze in the third round of their 145-pound headliner late last month. It was a big blow for Barboza who was finished for the first time since […]

Barboza

Edson Barboza is looking to compete before the end of the year.

Barboza saw his two-fight winning streak in the featherweight division halted after getting TKO’d by Giga Chikadze in the third round of their 145-pound headliner late last month.

It was a big blow for Barboza who was finished for the first time since March 2019 as well as saw his hopes of entering title contention delayed for the time being.

The Brazilian was quiet following the setback as he didn’t appear at the post-fight press conference nor was he active on social media. Until now.

Barboza took to Instagram recently to declare that he was ready to return to action in December.

“Dezembro? Estou dentro!!!! @ufc_brasil ?? December? I’m in!!! @ufc”

As for a potential opponent? It remains to be seen at this point. However, Barboza will undoubtedly be looking to fight someone ranked higher than him.

Barboza moved down to the featherweight division last year and suffered a split decision defeat to Dan Ige — a contest many felt he should have emerged victorious in.

However, Barboza bounced back with impressive wins over Makwan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos until his latest setback.

Who do you want to see Barboza face next?