Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze are in the main roles at the upcoming UFC on ESPN 30. The two featherweights who want to improve their rankings have a lot at stake here. Barboza is No.9, while Chikadze sits one place lower. Whoever wins goes up and probably gets another headliner shortly, while the loser drops out of the top 10. Barboza is an experienced fighter who had a few unlucky defeats recently. Meanwhile, Chikadze is still without a loss in the UFC and aims to stay that way.
Barboza vs. Chikadze Schedule
- Where: UFC Apex, Enterprise, Las Vegas, Nevada
- When: Saturday, August 28, 10:30 pm ET
- How to Watch: ESPN
Barboza vs. Chikadze Odds
| Barboza | Chikadze |
|---|---|
| -105 | -115 |
Barboza’s Quest For a Title-Shot
With 35 years, the Brazilian doesn’t have too much time to earn that title shot. He was a champion in less famous organizations before coming to the UFC and had a solid career since joining the most prominent MMA show in the world. However, he was never a contender, even though he holds several big wins in his resume.
Paul Felder, Anthony Pettis, Beneil Dariush, Dan Hooker, all these lightweights lost against Barboza. But he had a nasty stretch in that division, losing four of five contests (Khabib, Lee, Gaethje, Felder), after which he decided to drop down to featherweight. He would lose via split decision against Dan Ige on debut, but bounce back with two wins in a row, against Mawan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos.
Barboza is an exceptional kickboxer, very nice for watching because of his attractive style. His leg kicks are very powerful, and if he gets into the rhythm, the rival will feel consequences very fast.
Chikadze’s Ticket to the Big League
If he wins this match, the Georgian fighter will get a chance to improve his status in the UFC and earn a more lucrative deal and bigger fights. Since becoming a part of the organization, he fought six times, posting nothing but wins.
The first victory came against Brandon Davis, then Jamail Emmer,s Irwin Rivera, Omar Morales, Jamey Simmons, and at last against Cub Swanson, whom he KOd this May. It was in fact, the biggest reason why Dana White decided to put him in a headliner.
Like Barboza, Chikadze, too, is a great kickboxer whose intensity is slightly higher than his rival’s. Once coming to the UFC, he was pretty bad on the ground. Still, over the past few fights, he has been working with Beneil Dariush on that, and according to the sources close to him, Chikadze improved that area of performance enormously.
Barboza vs. Chikadze Prediction and Pick
Barboza is a much more experienced fighter who met with all sorts of different beasts in the octagon. Even though he might be slower than Chikadze, his power and size will provide some advantage inside the octagon. Barboza cuts a lot of weight, but this time he started doing it on time, and we expect to see him refreshed on Saturday, with a couple of pounds more than his rival. All in all, he is our pick for this match, because of all the above-mentioned.
Pick: Barboza wins
