Giga Chikadze touted his striking as the best in MMA prior to his UFC on ESPN 23 fight with Cub Swanson. He took a step toward proving it on fight night.
Chikadze (13-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) put longtime veteran Swanson (27-12 MMA, 12-8 UFC) away in just 63 seconds Saturday, unleashing a vicious body kick to rack up a sixth consecutive victory to begin his octagon tenure.
The featherweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 23 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.
There wasn’t much time for a feeling out process to start the fight. Swanson put the pressure on from the bell, but he was simply walking into Chikadze’s game. Chikadze went high with a kick that was blocked, then changed it up and went to the body, whipping a left kick into Swanson’s guts.
Swanson instantly reacted and went down. He tried to cover up and survive, but Chikadze was all over and forced referee Jason Herzog to step in and halt the bout.
“I’m so happy, I have big respect for Cub, but it is what it is, I had to do it,” Chikadze said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. “I had to tell all the top 15 guys that I’m here. If you didn’t know my name – if you don’t know, now you know.”
Swanson got specific with his callout, and asked for former UFC champion Max Holloway.
“Max Holloway, it would be an honor to fight you,” Chikadze said. “You are one of the best.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 23 results include:
- Giga Chikadze def. Cub Swanson via TKO (liver kick, punches) – Round 1, 1:03
- Ion Cutelaba vs. Dustin Jacoby declared split draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)
- Sean Strickland def. Krzysztof Jotko via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Cody Stamann via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Luana Pinheiro def. Randa Markos via disqualification (illegal kick) – Round 1, 4:16
- TJ Brown def. Kai Kamaka via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Luana Carolina def. Poliana Botelho via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Loma Lookboonmee def. Sam Hughes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Andreas Michailidis def. KB Bhullar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Felipe Colares def. Luke Sanders via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
