Nevada has finally approved Giga Chikadze to compete in its jurisdiction after he passed its examinations for head injury.
The Georgian professional mixed martial artist experienced a brain injury on an unknown occasion, but its origin could be traced back to his last two fights. The first was the one against Calvin Kattar in Nevada in January 2022. The fight lasted five rounds, with Kattar winning and raining Chikadze with hits to his head. After this, Ninja fought and defeated Alex Caceres in Singapore in August.
Fortunately for the featherweight fighter, the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) has already cleared his case.
“Giga Chikadze had a serious head injury,” NAC executive director Jeff Mullen shared in an online meeting (via MMA Junkie). “He did go through serious medical tests. He was cleared and his suspension was lifted. He fought in another jurisdiction (since) earlier this year, but he wasn’t licensed here. Now he’s coming up for licensing in December and he has had an additional (test). The other test he had a CAT scan after the previous fight. He has been cleared by all the tests. He has been cleared by our chief medical advisor.”
With the good news, No.8-ranked featherweight Chikadze is now allowed to enter the octagon to fight No.6-ranked Josh Emmett at UFC 296 in Las Vegas. While Chikadze will come out of a fresh success against Caceres months ago, Emmett will be entering the cage with motivation from his last two losses to Yair Rodriguez and Ilia Topuria in February and June. Needless to say, the opponent will be desperate for a win, making it a dangerous bout for Chikadze and his head.
