Chikadze Wants to Close Language Barrier With Zombie Inside Octagon

Giga Chikadze knows that he and Chan Sung Jung don’t speak the same language, but he believes the two fighters would understand each other perfectly if they step into the cage together.

The issues between the two featherweights date back to when the UFC chose to slot “The Korean Zombie” in as a replacement for Max Holloway to fight featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Chikadze had also been lobbying for the matchup, and the Georgian didn’t hesitate to criticize Volkanovski for taking an “easy” fight against Zombie.

Chikadze’s candidacy for the title shot took a hit following his unanimous decision loss to Calvin Kattar, prompting Zombie to hit back at Chikadze on social media after the fight. Zombie ended up losing his title bid against Volkanovski in April, and last week Chikadze formally called him out for a fight.

In a recent interview with The Schmo, the Georgian elaborated on why a fight between him and Zombie makes sense.

“I feel like if he wants to do one more fight, that’s the only option for him,” said Chikadze. “He had a lot to say after my fight, after my last fight, which a lot of people say this and that, but especially Zombie had a lot to say. So I really would love to see him in the Octagon and talk about —  you know he don’t speak English and I don’t speak Korean, but we have some language that we both speak. And I believe we can fix it, and talk, and have a little conversation inside the Octagon.”

Chikadze’s loss to Kattar was his first in the UFC, while Zombie’s loss to Volkanovski was his second failed bid at the UFC featherweight title. Both men took a considerable amount of damage in those fights; but given their respective styles a matchup between the two could be compelling.

With Zombie currently #5 and Chikadze #8 in the UFC’s featherweight rankings, the matchup certainly makes sense if either man wants to maintain their status as a top fighter. It also could help clear up the featherweight title picture leading up to the third fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway later this year.

What do you think of Chikadze’s explanation for his call out of The Korean Zombie?

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