The UFC’s featherweight division keeps moving forward.
It’s a breath of fresh air at 145lbs as new champion Ilia Topuria took the throne from the reigning Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. The best kept fighting the best afterwards as Brian Ortega submitted Yair Rodriguez to cement his place among top contenders alongside Movsar Evloev.
Top-ranked contenders Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze are right on the heels of the top five and they’ll look to work their way up the ladder with a win over the other. The featherweights are scheduled to fight on July 20, according to a report from Setanta Sports on Tuesday. A location has yet to be announced for this UFC event.
🚨 Per my sources, Giga Chikadze will fight Arnold Allen at UFC event on July 20th. 🇬🇪
Location is still TBD. pic.twitter.com/JZdo4v34rB
— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 (@iHeartGeorgius1) March 26, 2024
There’s a first time for everything and for the ‘Almighty’ Allen, he’s never lost back-to-back fights before… until now. Once on the verge of a title shot, Allen lost over the distance to former champ Max Holloway and the aforementioned Evloev in his last outing at UFC 297.
Before the setbacks, the 30 year-old pieced together an impressive 12-fight win streak, making him one of the brightest prospects the division has ever seen. Allen will try to regain his momentum with his back now against the wall.
Chikadze had his fair share of hype as well, early on into his UFC career. Stepping into the Octagon in 2019, Chikadze won his first seven fights in the promotion and was likely a win away from a title shot against Volkanovski. However, Calvin Kattar pumped the brakes on that, giving the Georgian his first UFC loss in Jan. 2022.
We wouldn’t see Chikadze come back until a year and a half later, where he scored a decision win over Alex Caceres in August.
Will Giga Chikadze make it two wins in a row or will Arnold Allen rebound from the worst skid of his career?
