Giga Chikadze didn’t look like he would make it t0 the UFC back in 2018. Of the many ways a fighter can get into the world’s premier combat sports promotion, the most common in recent times is Dana White‘s Contender Series. And Chikadze, who appeared on the series that year, lost his bout, and seemingly a chance at a UFC contract.

Facing Austin Springer on DWCS in June 2018, the Georgian would dominate most of the three rounds of the fight and seemed to be cruising towards victory. But, Springer didn’t give up despite the one-sided beating he had received in the previous fourteen minutes. The American caught Chikadze with a rear naked choke hold in the nick of time, ten seconds into the last minute of their fight to win via a stunning submission. But, this is not the only loss that ‘Ninja’ has suffered in his career.

Giga Chikadze’s only loss in the UFC: Who did he lose to?

After his loss to Springer which kept him from getting a UFC contract, Giga Chikadze returned to the Gladiator Challenge, where he won all two of his subsequent fights. Perhaps because of his having dominated Springer for the majority of their fight and the surprising nature of his loss, he was signed to the UFC the very next year, making his UFC debut against Brandon Davis in 2019.

Like many fighters, his debut was kinda shaky, but the Tbilisi native managed to eke out a split-decision victory. After which, he would go on a six-fight win streak in the UFC until he faced Calvin Kattar in his very first main event bout on a Fight Night card two years ago.

At the end of their cracking, five-round affair, Kattar would win the bout via a 50-45 unanimous decision, having won every round on each of the three judges’ scorecards. However, their fight was much more riveting than the scorecards suggest, since for the first two rounds, Chikadze would outstrike his opponent. However, Kattar successfully managed to take the fight to the ground, tiring out Chikadze and even outstriking ‘Ninja in the latter three rounds in their ‘Fight of the Night’ bout. This brings us to the first-ever loss of ‘Ninja’s career.

Has Giga Chikadze lost outside the UFC? Overall MMA record

‘Ninja’ has three losses in his nine-year pro-MMA career, compared to fifteen wins. We have discussed two of his most recent losses in depth above, now let’s take a look at the first-ever loss of his MMA career, which came on his very first MMA bout back in 2015.

On his professional debut, Chikadze faced Gil Guardado, who was 4-1 coming into their bout on the opener of the WSOF 26 event, which went the distance. After the sanctioned three rounds of fighting, the Georgian lost a unanimous decision to the American.

However, he would bounce back strongly and knock out his next five opponents in the very first round! This would earn him the aforementioned fateful call-up to the Contender Series. The rest, as they say, is history. What are your thoughts on Giga Chikadze’s career losses?