Kings MMA fighter Giga Chikadze (Huntington Beach, CA via Republic of Georgia) and Anvar Boynazarov (Stockton, CA via Uzbekistan) are set to meet on the GLORY 27 CHICAGO Superfight Series card.
Chikadze (33-4, 20 KO's) has stepped in for an injured Tomasz Makowski to take the featherweight (143lbs/65kg) fight and look to avenge himself on Boynazarov (79-20-2, 45 KO's), who won a decision over him in their August 2015 encounter at GLORY 23 LAS VEGAS.
The August fight marked Boynazarov's GLORY debut and Chikadze's debut in the GLORY featherweight division. He usually fights at this weight but made his GLORY debut at lightweight due to taking the fight on a week's notice.
Chikadze stole the show in his GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO debut, confounding Canadian debutant Ken Tran with a dazzling array of kicks and karate tricks before finishing him in the third round with a brutal body kick.
Boynazarov, originally from Uzbekistan but now resident in California after a long spell in Thailand, didn't fall for Chikadze's tricks in Las Vegas. He endured a difficult first round to come back and take control of the fight, demonstrating the qualities which made him a Muay Thai champion during his time in Thailand.
“This is an interesting rematch. Their first fight was very close. Chikadze was the favorite going into it but he looked like he maybe had a bad weight cut, his energy seemed low, so by agreeing to step in for Chicago he gets a second chance at Boynazarov and he can see if he can do things differently this time,” remarked Cor Hemmers, GLORY matchmaker and Head of Talent Operations.
Tickets for GLORY 27 CHICAGO are on sale now via SearsCentre.com and are priced at $200, $100, $60 and $35.
GLORY Superfight Series cards air in the US on CBS Sports. Broadcast details for the Chicago card will be available on the GLORY Kickboxing website soon.
