Preview: UFC Fight Night 225 ‘Holloway vs. Korean Zombie’

Featherweights

#9 FW | Giga Chikadze (14-3, 7-1 UFC) vs. #15 FW | Alex Caceres (21-13, 16-11 UFC)

ODDS: Chikadze (-245), Caceres (+200)

The last two years have been a bit of whiplash for Chikadze, as the Georgian has gone from one of the hottest fighters on the UFC roster to a forgotten man. A well-regarded kickboxer before transitioning to mixed martial arts, Chikadze had a paper-thin resume prior to getting signed in 2019. A loss on Dana White’s Contender Series the year prior suggested “Ninja” was not ready for high-level competition, and his mixed martial arts victories were mostly over the worst possible opposition. To his credit, Chikadze proved he was a new man and ready to hit the ground running in the UFC. His first few victories were not particularly amazing, with Chikadze mostly dictating range and scraping out some narrow wins, but a quick knockout of Jamey Simmons to cap off 2020 gave way to a breakout 2021 campaign. Chikadze obliterated Cub Swanson in just 63 seconds with his signature “Giga Kick” to the liver, then won a main event over Edson Barboza to mark himself as a potential contender. However, Chikadze has been unable to build on that momentum in the two years since, which is not entirely his fault. The UFC’s first main event of 2022 saw Calvin Kattar pressure him to a one-sided victory, and Chikadze has seen booking after booking fall apart in the time since, including two potential main events that were scrapped before they were even publicly announced. Chikadze finally gets his chance to rebound against Caceres, who is finally reaping the rewards of over a decade of hard work with some big-name opportunities.

A standout on “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2010 thanks to his “Bruce Leeroy” persona, Caceres became a promotional favorite that the UFC stuck by despite a rough start to his run. Caceres eventually developed into a consistently entertaining fighter who was inconsistent in terms of results. His creativity and willingness to flow with a fight became a double-edged sword, as he would often just let his opponents dictate things and fight to their maximum effectiveness, leaving Caceres to dig himself out of a hole. Those concerns still persist years later, but Caceres is a crafty enough veteran at this point that he is simply more effective in neutralizing his opponents or taking advantage of opportunities. His December win over Julian Erosa was somehow the first clean knockout of his UFC career, and he has shown a bit of a knack for submissions as part of this run of seven wins in his last eight fights. Unfortunately for Caceres, he is probably willing to concede to the type of long-range striking match that Chikadze wants to have, which means the Georgian should find his way to a finish within 15 minutes, even if he might need to shake off the rust a bit. The pick is Chikadze via second-round knockout.

Jump To »
Holloway vs. Jung
Spann vs. Smith
Chikadze vs. Caceres
Nakamura vs. Garcia
Blanchfield vs. Santos
Tafa vs. Porter
The Prelims