Giga Chikadze ready, set to face Omar Morales on October 10th
A featherweight match up between Giga Chikadze (10-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and the unbeaten prospect Omar Morales (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has been finalized for the card. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking.
Undefeated Venezuelan Omar Morales (10-0) will have a tough fight on his return to the Octagon when he faces Georgian Giga Chikadze on October 10.
Chikadze has five straight wins and was scheduled to be back in action this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 32 in Las Vegas. He was ultimately forced out the week of the fight against Alex Caceres, but now has a new fight in the books. After a third-round submission loss in August 2018 in a Dana White’s Contender Series bout, Chikadze has gone on a five-fight win streak. After consecutive stoppage wins with the Gladiator Challenge promotion, he has decision wins over Brandon Davis, Jamall Emmers and Irwin Rivera in the UFC. Holding a perfect record with the promotion (excluding the DWCS loss).
Chikadze, from King’s MMA gym in Los Angeles, has just improved his professional record to 10-2 after beating another Mexican-born fighter, Irwin Rivera, who made his debut on short notice and had to move up from bantamweight to fight the highly talented featherweight.
Morales fought his way to the UFC with a second-round knockout of Harvey Park 13 months ago on Dana White’s Contender Series. The Venezuelan born hadn’t been active in his MMA career preceding up to that with just seven fights in nearly seven year span. But in the UFC, he has successive wins over Dong Hyun Ma and Gabriel Benitez, which recently came in May. Coming off a win over veteran Gabriel Benítez, when the Mexican decided to move up to the lightweight division for the engagement for that fight. The battle was fiery and attracted attention for Benítez’s horrific cut on his left shin, which later on went viral. Morales will be dropping down to 145 for this contest.
The UFC’s Oct. 10 show is expected to take place at “Fight Island,” Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Broadcast details have not yet been announced.
