UFC in Vegas 35: Barboza vs. Chikadze First Look Betting Prediction
UFC returns to the Apex Centre in Vegas for another stacked UFC Fight Night event. Two of the UFC's elite featherweights will square off in the main event. Read on for our complete betting guide taking a first look at Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze, including updated UFC odds and our free expert betting predictions.
Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze
UFC Featherweight Main Event Bout
Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 11:55 PM EDT at Apex Centre
Edson Barboza (22-9-0)
Brazilian born Muay Thai kickboxing specialist Edson Barboza hasn’t reached championship status amongst the UFC elite. Still, a plethora of memorable top-10 fights within the lightweight and featherweight divisions have left the dangerous striker as a fan favorite.
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Before becoming a mixed martial artist, Barboza was a decorated Muay Thai practitioner and finished his professional career with a 25-3 record. In addition, 22 of those Muay Thai bouts were knockout finishes, and 17 were first-round stoppages. To call Barboza, a high-level striker is an understatement, as he possesses some of the most lethal kicks on the UFC roster.
Fast forward 12 years, Barboza is now a UFC veteran with a 16-9 record for the promotion. Following a handful of losses in the UFC’s lightweight division, a move to the featherweight division aged 35 has seemingly assisted his career. Outside of a split decision loss to Dan Ige, which could’ve and probably should’ve been scored in his favor, he’s won his other two contests with significant ease and will now take on the undefeated UFC record of Giga Chikadze.
Edson Barboza MMA Accomplishments
UFC Fight of the Night (Eight times)UFC Performance of the Night (One time)UFC Knockout of the Night (One time)Tied for most knockout victories in UFC Lightweight division history (Seven)Brazilian Muay Thai Champion
How Can Barboza Win?
When two highly skilled strikers face-off, it can be challenging to anticipate where the fight will occur. But in Barboza’s case, top sportsbooks believe his Muay Thai background will favor him at a closer range. Of course, he owns some of the most lethal calves and inside leg kicks in the game, but his experience in the clinch is a position where he could avoid Chikadze’s preferred distance.
Edson Barboza kicks his opponent during their featherweight bout. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
There’s no denying that Barboza’s legs are his lethal weapons, finishes via leg kick, head kick, body kick, and flying knees. Baiting Chikadze in with his hands could be a path to disguising a fight-ending kick.
And here’s the issue, the possibilities are endless with such diverse striking on the table. Looking into other variables, such as cardio, age, and confidence could be the deciding factor in making the correct prediction.
Best Available Odds: (visit our Sportsbook Review)
Giga Chikadze (13-2-0)
Former glory and kickboxing professional Giga Chikadze has transitioned his striking skills into martial arts and has taken the UFC featherweight division by storm. Since his promotional debut in 2019, he owns a 6-0 streak and two stoppages from his most recent bouts.
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Chikadze stems from a background in kickboxing, and from 2008-2017 he amassed a record of 38-6 in the sport.
Now scheduled to face Edson Barboza, fans should anticipate a striking clinic between two elite kickboxers from different striking backgrounds. Where Barboza’s striking was fine-tuned and styled on Muay Thai, Chikadze is a third-degree black belt in Goju-Ryu Karate, and this is where his love for striking began.
Giga Chikadze MMA Accomplishments
UFC Performance of the Night (Two times)2019 Fight of the Year vs. Israel Adesanya
How Can Chikadze Win?
Again, a diverse range of strikes gives us multiple possibilities or potential paths to victory for Chikadze. Still, I believe that Chikadze will find more success at range by carefully selecting his shots. Take it into consideration for your UFC picks.
Giga Chikadze (L) of Georgia knees his opponent in their Featherweight bout. Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images/AFP
He’ll want to avoid grappling exchanges and tie-ups where Barboza’s Muay Thai experience could prevail, and patience could be the key to Chikadze’s success next weekend. Barboza isn’t getting any younger, and a growing number of high-profile fights he’s taken throughout his career haven’t assisted his longevity.
Barboza has been known to slow down and sometimes proved to show a questionable cardiovascular, we haven’t witnessed Chikadze in a five-round fight, but he also doesn’t show signs of slowing down in the third.
Best Available Odds:
UFC in Vegas 35: Barboza vs. Chikadze Early Prediction
The available odds at Sportsbook Review opened Chikadze as the +130 underdog but have quickly been wagered into an even line. And I can’t say I’m surprised. This is one of the most difficult fights I’ve handicapped in all of 2021, and we’re going to witness a striking chess match play out between two of the featherweight divisions finest.
The UFC Heavyweight title belt. Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images /AFP
With that said, I’m siding with the age, longevity, cardio, and counter striking of Chikadze to be the decider in this matchup. If anybody can address the kicks of Barboza, it will be the Georgina native. In addition, I can envision Chikadze’s awareness and fight IQ giving Barboza a drop in confidence after the first round or two once his usual weapons aren’t working out.
UFC in Vegas 35 Betting Prediction:
*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.
UFC in Vegas 35 Main Card
Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze(UFC featherweight main event bout)Ricky Turcios vs. Brady Hiestand (The Ultimate Fighter bantamweight finale)Kevin Lee vs. Daniel Rodriguez (UFC welterweight bout)Makhmud Muradov vs. Gerald Meerschaert (UFC middleweight bout)Bryan Battle vs. Gilbert Urbina (The Ultimate Fighter middleweight finale)
