Giga Chikadze claims he was offered to fight Yair Rodriguez in the main event of the July 17 card but the Mexican fighter turned him down.
Rodriguez was supposed to fight Max Holloway in a pivotal bout for the featherweight division. Yet, the Hawaiian was out of the scrap due to an injury and it was uncertain if the UFC would keep Rodriguez on the card. According to Chikadze, that was the plan but Rodriguez turned him down.
“Max Holloway pulled out from the fight with Yair Rodriguez due to injury. UFC called me to replace him, and of course, I agreed. Now we’re waiting for Yair,” Chikadze said on an Instagram video. “This buy didn’t fight for 20 or 21 months. Guess what I was doing in this time? I was fighting, fighting and fighting. I’ve fought six times, I beat all my opponents. This guy started to play games. It’s been a few days. I haven’t heard back.
“Hopefully he’s going to show up July 17, but I heard he’s a little bit of a p***y. He didn’t show up four times with Zabit, and I heard he did everything to pull out from this fight. I don’t think the guy is scared to be in UFC, but hopefully, now he’s going to be meet me in front face-to-face and we’re going to talk. I can’t wait,” Chikadze concluded.
Giga Chikadze is undefeated in the UFC and coming off the biggest win of his career as he scored a first-round TKO win over Cub Swanson. The Georgian had a phenomenal 2020 as he went 4-0 with wins over Jamall Emmers, Irwin Rivera, Omar Morales, and Jamey Simmons. He’s currently ranked 10th at featherweight. Rodriguez, meanwhile, is ranked third. With that, it does make some sense for him to want someone in the top five or just wait for Holloway to get healthy.
