A featherweight bout between strikers Cub Swanson and Giga Chikadze is set to take place on the UFC Fight Night card set for May 1.
Swanson was originally set to fight Gavin Tucker on the May 1 card, but Tucker was removed from that event and re-booked against Dan Ige on the March 13 card. With Swanson in need of an opponent, the UFC matchmakers were able to secure Chikadze to step in and fight him two months from now. Swanson himself confirmed the fight on his Instagram, following an initial report from Adjara Sport. The UFC Fight Night card on May 1 is targeted to be headlined by light heavyweights Jiri Prochazka and Dominick Reyes.
Here we go again!!! May 1st vs Giga Chikadze #UFCFightNight170
Swanson (27-11) has been a member of the UFC roster since 2011, and he has racked up a 12-7 record over that time period, with notable wins over Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, and Doo Ho Choi. After suffering through a four-fight losing skid from 2017 to 2019, Swanson was able to bounce back and win back-to-back fights over Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda. Swanson is 37 years old now but he has looked really sharp in his last two outings, appearing to have lots of fight left in him now that he’s healthy again.
Chikadze (12-2) made his UFC debut in 2019 and he has since racked up a perfect 5-0 record in the Octagon, with wins over Jamey Simmons, Omar Morales, Irwin Rivera, Jamal Emmers, and Brandon Davis. The 32-year-old Chikadze is currently riding a seven-fight win streak since a loss to Austin Springer on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018. Since that loss, Chikadze has really upped his overall game and maybe fans and analysts are now talking about him as a potential top-15 featherweight contender by the end of 2021.
It’s also worth noting these two have done some training together in the past, so it will be interesting to see how that translates to when these two step into the Octagon together.
Who do you think wins this fight between Cub Swanson and Giga Chikadze?