“I guarantee you I’m the best striker [in the UFC] and a much better striker than Max Holloway. I just need my chance to prove it."
That's UFC rising star Giga Chikadze officially throwing down the gauntlet ... challenging the featherweight G.O.A.T. to a scrap when talking to TMZ Sports.
Chikadze's stock is soaring after the 32-year-old put Cub Swanson away with a BRUTAL liver kick only 63 seconds into their co-main event fight last weekend.
🚨 GIGA KICK ALERT 🚨@giga_chikadze sent Cub Swanson to the canvas 😤 #UFCVegas25 pic.twitter.com/TzNPMW9TFY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 2, 2021
Giga -- 13-2 (8 KO's) -- is now the #10 ranked featherweight ... so we asked him to name his dream fight.
“For sure Max Holloway.”
Why Blessed? He's the definition of a problem inside the Octagon.
"His fight against Calvin Kattar, I watched that fight and it was probably one of the best performances I’ve seen in a featherweight division," Giga says.
"Every time he was doing some crazy boxing combo I said, 'Man, I wanna fight him!'"
Of course, Holloway didn't just dominate Kattar (he landed a record 445 significant strikes) ... he's beaten Jose Aldo (twice), Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar, Anthony Pettis and Jeremy Stephens -- to name a few.
Despite his ridiculous resume, Chikadze isn't afraid to say he has better hands (and legs) than the former champion ... and a fight with Max would be over inside 10 minutes.
“It doesn’t matter if it's gonna be a 3-round fight, 5-round fight ... I only give [Holloway] 2 [rounds]. That’s the max.”
#FightingWords 💪