
Monster Energy congratulates Giga Chikadze on his spectacular technical knockout victory over Edson Barboza at UFC Vegas 35 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday night. In the Main Event fight in the featherweight division, the 33-year-old from Tbilisi, Georgia, stopped his opponent with punches at 1:44 minutes of Round 3. Chikadze also earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, his third consecutive UFC knockout, and post-fight bonus.
UFC Fight Night: Barboza VS Chikadze took place on Saturday night with limited fan attendance at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. Broadcast live on ESPN, UFC Vegas 35 also marked the season finale of the reality television show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). The newly crowned TUF champions are Bryan Battle (middleweight) and Ricky Turcios (bantamweight).
As the latest addition to Monster Energy’s mixed martial arts roster, Chikadze (14-2) stepped into Saturday’s main event with eight consecutive victories under his belt. The karate and kickboxing expert who trains at Kings MMA had finished his last two fights via technical knockout, both in the first round. He stopped Jamey Simmons in November 2020 and Cub Swanson in May 2021; each time earning a Performance of the Night bonus.
Chikadze faced a serious opponent in Edson Barboza (22-10). The 35-year-old Brazilian is known as one of the UFC’s premier knockout artists and most recently stopped Shane Burgos at UFC 262 to earn the Fight of the Night bonus award.