Top Picks for UFC Vegas 35: Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze

This Saturday, August 28th, we have a nicely stacked card in UFC Vegas 35: Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze. Not only do we have a pretty main card, but the preliminary card also has some wonderful matchups. Read below to get my UFC Prediction for Alessio Di Chirico vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan and Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze.

Alessio Di Chirico vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan

UFC Middleweight Bout

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 08:30 PM EDT at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas

Alessio Di Chirico 

Alessio “Manzo” Di Chirico is an Italian mixed martial artist currently competing in the UFC Middleweight division. Manzo started his MMA career as a Light Heavyweight amateur under the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation. He went on to win the IMMAF Light Heavyweight amateur title, and also compiled a record of 9-0 before signing with the UFC. 

Di Chirico made his UFC debut in April 2016 against Bojan Velckovic; he lost via unanimous decision. Manzo is now 4-5 in the UFC, and has earned UFC Performance of the Night (two times) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose and Joaquin Buckley.

Abdul Razak Alhassan

“Judo Thunder” Abdul Razak Alhassan is a Ghanaian mixed martial artist currently competing in both the UFC Welterweight and Middleweight divisions. Alhassan competed under the promotions Xtreme Knockout, Bellator, Rage in the Cage and Legacy Fighting Championship before signing with the UFC in 2016. He made his promotional UFC debut against Charlie Ward and won via KO in the first round, awarding him his first Performance of the Night bonus. His second Performance of the Night bonus was against Sabah Homasi in 2017. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uqjS9U4fao

Prediction

The current UFC Odds are Alessio Di Chirico -235 and Abdul Razak Alhassan +200 via BetOnline (Visit our Sportsbook Review).

Alhassan has had a rough past 3 fights. He is 0-3 with losses against Mounir Lazzez by unanimous decision, Kalinn Williams by KO, and Jacob Malkoun by unanimous decision. He is definitely powerful and hungry to finish an opponent inside the octagon since all 10 of his wins have been by T/KO. He has only been knocked out once, and the rest of his losses have been at the scorecards. 

Di Chirico is 1-2 in his last 3 bouts. He is definitely more well-rounded than Alhassan meaning he has great talent striking and on the ground. He has never been knocked out, which puts me more at ease knowing he has a chin. However, we still need to be weary of the power in Alhassan’s hands. 

Alhassan has been working on his takedown defense in his training camp, but my question would be “is this training camp enough time to prepare him for the best takedown defense?” My response would be “no”. 

Alhassan is going to start this fight strong, aggressive, and swinging for that finish. I believe he does have the potential to KO Di Chirico, however I also believe Manzo has the talent to avoid these dangerous encounters. The later into the rounds this fight goes, the more it leans Di Chirico. 

With that said, I see two outcomes: Alhassan finishes Di Chirico in the first round or this fight makes it to the scorecards favoring Di Chirico. Manzo’s skills on the ground and his overall experience inside the cage should help him gain the W at the scorecards. Keep in mind, all of Alhassan’s losses have indeed been at the scorecards. Since I don’t see Di Chirico finishing Alhassan, and I see Di Chirico surviving the first round due to pure skill, I’m going to take the value in the MMA Props and take Di Chirico by Points. 

UFC Pick: (Visit our Sportsbook Review)

Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze

UFC Featherweight Bout

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 11:55 PM EDT at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas

Edson Barboza

Edson Barboza is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist currently ranked #9 in the UFC Featherweight division. In his professional Muay Thai career, he went 25-3 with 22 wins by KO with 17 of those being in the first round. His professional MMA career then began in 2009 under Real Fighting Championships, Renaissance MMA and Ring of Combat; he went 6-0 before signing with the UFC in 2010. 

Barboza made his UFC debut in November 2010 against Mike Lullo and won via T/KO. Barboza has an incredibly list of accomplishments from his professional MMA career: Ring of Combat Lightweight Champion, Renaissance MMA Lightweight Champion, UFC Fight of the Night (8-times), Tied for most knockout victories in UFC Lightweight division history (7), and many many more.

Giga Chikadze

Giga “Ninja” Chikadze is a Georgian mixed martial artist currently ranked #13 in the UFC Featherweight division. Chikdaze made his professional debut as a lightweight in the World Series of Fighting against Gil Guardado; he lost by unanimous decision. He then went on to compete under the Gladiator Challenge where he ran a 5 fight win streak with all fights ending in the first round. 

Chikadze made his UFC debut in 2019 against Brandon Davis and won via split decision. Of his MMA accomplishments, Chikadze earned: UFC Performance of the Night (two times) and 2020 Under the Radar Fighter of the Year.

Prediction

I included this main event in my Top UFC Picks video. The current UFC odds are: Edson Barboza -115 and Giga Chikadze -105 via BetOnline (Visit our Sportsbook Review).

I am very excited for this fight because I love when we have two incredibly talented strikers; you know that calls for a potential fight of the night. 

Both fighters have lethal kicks, and are incredibly skilled in similar ways. But the main trait that stands out to me the most is Chikadze’s fight IQ. He will start a fight off slow and with patience so he can read his opponents to gauge their range and to also see what skills they have to offer. 

If you combine his strong fight IQ with his elight kickboxing skills, it's hard to see a different outcome than Chikadze winning. 

UFC Pick: (Visit our Sportsbook Review)