Ilia Topuria sent shockwaves across Europe with his featherweight title triumph over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. The Georgian fighter recently got Spanish citizenship and has become a celebrity in both nations. Fellow Georgian featherweight Giga Chikadze spoke about it in an interview.
Georgia never had a UFC champion before Topuria. They now have elite fighters across weight divisions. In addition to Topuria and Chikadze, Merab Dvalishvili has a chance to become the bantamweight champion, and Roman Dolidze is the 11th-ranked middleweight. Chikadze recently spoke about the popularity of MMA in Georgia.
It’s like the national sports right now, actually… we, as single athletes, I believe we are one of the best right now. I’m really happy with how we are getting all that love and attention. Obviously, a title fight also sounds big for the country.
Giga Chikadze via MMA Junkie
Chikadze also stated the Georgian national football team is also getting good attention in the country. They qualified for the UEFA Euro Cup, for which Chikadze remains very happy. Dvalishvili had recently met with the footballers, exchanging jerseys with one of the players.
Chikadze has a fight scheduled by the UFC against Arnold Allen at UFC 304 in Manchester. He won’t have the crowd by his side, but Chikadze will aim to get into the title picture with a victory over the higher-ranked Allen.
Arnold Allen speaks on featherweight matchup against Giga Chikadze
The UK has slowly begun to be a big market for the UFC. The country now has two champions in the UFC, and every event has received the full support of the fans fighting in the sport. As such, the UFC 304 PPV event in Manchester has five UK fighters on the main card.
Arnold Allen previews fight with Giga Chikadze (Image via: IMAGO)Tom Aspinall is on the co-main event against Curtis Blaydes, and Leon Edwards headlines the PPV with Belal Muhamad. Moreover, there is an exciting featherweight matchup between Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze. Allen recently provided his first take on his opponent.
He’s [Giga Chikadze] a tall kickboxer with very good kicks, very good knees, good punches, and is a good striker. He comes from a good team and is a world champion kickboxer, obviously elite.
Arnold Allen via Youtube
Allen is confident that his fight against Chikadze will be exciting. In his previous fight at UFC 297, Allen lost to Movsar Evloev in a lackluster fight, garnering criticism from UFC CEO Dana White. Allen is on a two-fight losing streak and requires a victory to hold his rankings and stay relevant in the title picture.
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