It was a good night for Giga Chikadze as he registered a superb third round TKO against Edson Barboza in the main event of UFC Vegas 35 to maintain his impressive winning run. As well as leaving with victory, the heavy-handed Georgian also picked up performance of the night for the third time in a row as he closes in on bigger nights ahead.
In a first round dominated by kicks from both men, Chikadze spent the bulk of the opening session trying to avoid attacks from the marauding Brazilian. Barboza was relentless with his leg assaults but it was obvious that he was putting plenty of energy into securing an early night.
With the pattern from the inaugural stanza continuing into round two, Barboza’s kicks were starting to land on the target but Chikadze showed a great resilience to withstand the onslaught. It was a better round for Chikadze but he was about to turn the fight around dramatically as the fight entered round three.
A superb right hand from Chikadze stunned Barboza and shortly afterwards he was on the floor following another excellent shot from his confident opponent. With Barboza grounded and Chikadze smelling blood, Jason Herzog made the right call to stop the beating and hand Chikadze an impressive scalp.