Prediction: Toss Up
Striking-wise, this is Giga’s domain. He’s a decorated kickboxer with some of the fastest and most technically sound kicks in the division. His footwork is elite—not just circling and evading, but constantly angling off in a way that resets exchanges before they even get started. His jab is clean, his straight shots are accurate, and the way he blends his kicks into combinations is high-level stuff. He doesn’t need to load up, and his shots don’t look dangerous at first glance, but over time he breaks opponents down with accumulation and sharp placement. On the outside, he’s incredibly hard to deal with, and against someone like Onama who does his best work moving forward, that’s a real threat.
But here’s the equalizer: Onama hits way harder than Giga. Onama carries real one-shot knockout power and has been improving rapidly, especially with how he uses his jab to build offense. His hands are cleaner every time we see him—he’s finding better entries, putting combinations together, and managing distance more effectively than ever. His pressure is heavy and his presence in the cage feels overwhelming at times. If he touches you clean, you feel it. And unlike some power punchers, Onama doesn’t just swing wildly—he’s starting to understand how to weaponize that jab and walk guys down behind it.
The question is whether he can stay defensively responsible long enough to make that power matter. Chikadze is great at punishing mistakes. If you try to blitz him without a setup, he’ll slide back and counter. If you reach, he’ll catch you with a kick or a clean cross. So Onama has to pressure, but do it smart—cut off the cage, force Giga into the fence, and then let his hands go. If he chases him around the outside, he’ll just get picked apart.
And then there’s the wildcard: the wrestling. Onama is the better wrestler in this matchup, and if he wants a clear edge, that’s it. Chikadze has shown solid takedown defense at times, but it’s not bulletproof. If Onama commits to mixing in the wrestling, he could really wear on Giga. But that comes with the same issue: he has to be pressuring to shoot. You can’t take Giga down if you’re letting him control the range and tempo. So once again, it comes down to whether Onama can apply that pressure in a smart, layered way—because if he can’t, he’s just walking into sniper fire.
This is why the fight feels like such a toss-up. Chikadze has the edge in speed, technical striking, and footwork. If he’s allowed to stay clean, stay mobile, and manage the pace, he’ll likely touch Onama up over three rounds. But Onama brings the power, the physicality, and the X-factor that can flip a round—or a fight—on a dime. Add in the wrestling advantage, and there’s a very real path to victory if he mixes it all together.