Giga Chikadze hoping for quick turnaround fight against Jeremy Stephens

UFC featherweight contender Giga Chikadze is hoping to return to the Octagon for a quick turnaround fight against veteran Jeremy Stephens.

Chikadze is coming off of the best win of his UFC career, a body kick TKO over Cub Swanson at this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 25 card. It was the best performance of the Georgian’s career to date, and it improved his UFC record to a perfect 6-0. Chikadze is one of the hottest fighters in the division at the moment and after beating Swanson in short order, he has been hanging around in Las Vegas hoping to get another fight booked.

Although Chikadze has already called out Max Holloway, Calvin Kattar, and Yair Rodriguez for fights, none of those three names are available right now. One name that could be available, however, is Stephens, who recently had his fight against Drakkar Klose fall through after a shove at the weigh-ins by Stephens caused Klose to get whiplash. With Stephens also looking for another opponent, it’s possible Chikadze gets the call, as MMAjunkie.com’s John Morgan reported that Team Chikadze is very interested in it.

Checked in with @giga_chikadze to see if he’s had success getting a fight yet. Team tells me they’re very interested in fighting Jeremy Stephens (@LiLHeathenMMA) either May 8 or May 15.

— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) May 4, 2021

Checked in with @giga_chikadze to see if he’s had success getting a fight yet. Team tells me they’re very interested in fighting Jeremy Stephens ( @LiLHeathenMMA ) either May 8 or May 15.

Chikadze is currently the No. 10 ranked featherweight in the UFC, though Stephens was recently dropped from the rankings after the fight with Klose was supposed to take place at lightweight. Since Chikadze is a big featherweight and just had to go through a big weight cut, it’s possible that he might not be able to make 145lbs in one or two weeks, so if this Stephens fight does indeed come to fruition, it could take place at 155lbs, instead.

Do you want to see Giga Chikadze vs. Jeremy Stephens?