Calvin Kattar responds to Giga Chikadze saying he would beat him 9 out of 10 times
Returning from a 364-day layoff, UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar put on an incredible bounce-back performance against Giga Chikadze at UFC Vegas 46 last weekend. An early contender for fight of the year and winning a bonus for Fight Of the Night in the first UFC event of 2022, Kattar defeated Chikadze by unanimous decision with a performance that received praise from UFC President Dana White and changed the narrative around him following his last outing.
In January of 2021, Kattar showed incredible toughness but many questioned if he took too much damage when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to former champion Max Holloway, who put on a record-setting striking performance against Kattar. There were many questions as to how Kattar would look entering the fight against Chikadze and very early on, those questions were answered. Using an incredible display of elbow strikes throughout the entire fight, Kattar inflicted some serious damage on Chikadze and reasserted himself as a top contender in the flyweight division.
Leading up to the fight, there were plenty of talks that Giga Chikadze could be a short-notice replacement for Holloway, who had to withdraw from his title fight against champion Alexander Volkanovski but only if he got the job done against Kattar. With “The Boston Finisher” putting a definitive stop to those plans, he also made it known that one of the biggest mistakes made was everyone, including Chikadze, underestimating him which is never a good idea.
Following the loss, Chikadze took to social media and although he credited Calvin Kattar for his winning performance, he’d go on to say that he would defeat Kattar 9 times out of 10 despite the loss. In response to that claim, Kattar was a guest on ‘Unlocking The Cage’ with Jimmy Smith on Sirius XM’s Fight Nation and kept his response short and sweet.
"Until then, I just hit him with the 'Have a nice day.'"
After his #UFCVegas46 win, @calvinkattar responds to Giga Chikadze’s claims that he’d beat him 9 times out of 10 😂☕️@jimmysmithmma
⏬Catch the FULL interview on the Unlocking The Cage Podcast⏬https://t.co/q8CHIWEKhd pic.twitter.com/HqZmJwt1q0
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) January 19, 2022
“I get it, man. I got tagged up in my fight [against Holloway] but I didn’t say anything. My whole thing is ‘Alright, if you feel that way go out there and earn another shot. For me, go earn your Round 6. He’s going to have to do that in his next fights but until then, I just hit him with the ‘Have a nice day.'”
Calvin Kattar is obviously not taking Giga Chikadze’s claim too seriously and is looking ahead, while seemingly staying open to a future rematch with Chikadze if he works his way back to it.
