Matches to Make After UFC on ESPN 30

The finely tuned weaponry wielded by Giga Chikadze—all of it buoyed by speed, power and technique—was too much to bear for his latest victim in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s dog-eat-dog featherweight division.

Chikadze wiped out former Ring of Combat champion Edson Barboza with punches in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 30 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where he positioned himself as a Top 10 contender with room to grow. Barboza succumbed to punches 1:44 into Round 3, as he suffered just the fourth knockout loss of his 32-fight career.

Visually, it appeared to be a dead heat through two rounds. Chikadze turned on the afterburners in the third, where a knee strike to his counterpart’s chest touched off a one-man feeding frenzy. He dazed Barboza with a straight right, powered into top position and threatened his neck with anaconda and brabo chokes. The American Top Team rep freed himself from the attempted submissions, but as Barboza tried to stand in a still-compromised state, Chikadze cut loose with punches, battered him backward into the cage and prompted referee Jason Herzog to act.

In the aftermath of UFC on ESPN “Barboza vs. Chikadze,” here are four matches that ought to be made:

Giga Chikadze vs. Chan Sung Jung: No one can deny Chikadze a seat at the 145-pound table any longer. The Kings MMA mainstay was virtually flawless in his execution, as he became the first man since Justin Gaethje in March 2019 to put away Barboza with strikes. Chikadze, 33, owns a perfect 7-0 record inside the Octagon and has rattled off nine consecutive victories since his utterly forgettable turn on Dana White’s Contender Series a little more than three years ago. He carries the skills and the charisma the UFC finds desirable in its primetime players, and his resume now has plenty of meat on the bone. Jung last appeared in the UFC on ESPN 25 main event, where he laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over Dan Ige on June 19.

Daniel Rodriguez vs. Muslim Salikhov: Rodriguez sidestepped some initial adversity, made the most of his opportunity as a short-notice substitution for Sean Brady and took a unanimous decision from the mercurial Kevin Lee in a three-round welterweight showcase. All three cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards for the Syndicate MMA export. Lee executed takedowns in the first, second and third rounds, but his sledding grew increasingly tough; and he was no match for “D-Rod” on the feet. Rodriguez outstruck him by a staggering 116-43 margin across the final 10 minutes and completed the match with a 120-56 advantage in significant strikes. The 34-year-old Californian has won 13 of his past 14 bouts, including three in a row. Salikhov last competed on June 5, when he was awarded a unanimous verdict over Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night 189.

Gerald Meerschaert vs. Rodolfo Vieira: Meerschaert entered the cage as a 4-to-1 underdog and promptly threw the oddsmakers a Bert Blylevenesque curveball, as he submitted Makhmud Muradov with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their middleweight attraction. Muradov conceded defeat 1:49 into Round 2, thus ending his career-best 14-fight winning streak. Meerschaert waded through considerable fire and wore down the Uzbekistani standout with pace and guile. He forced Muradov to retreat from punches in the second round, dragged him to the canvas and advanced to the back without much difficulty before cinching the choke and drawing the tapout. The once-beaten Vieira last fought at UFC on ESPN 26, where “The Black Belt Hunter” dispatched Dustin Stoltzfus with a third-round rear-naked choke.

Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Antonio Arroyo-Joaquin Buckley winner: Those who wrote off Alhassan may have been too quick on the trigger. In his first appearance since he relocated to Elevation Fight Team, the power-punching judoka brought down Alessio Di Chirico with a lightning bolt of a head kick in the first round of their featured middleweight prelim. Alhassan tagged the Italian’s figurative toe a mere 17 seconds into Round 1, as he authored the seventh sub-minute finish of his career and closed the book on his three-fight losing streak. Arroyo and Buckley have been booked opposite one another at UFC Fight Night 192 on Sept. 18.