Giga Chikadze vs Josh Emmett UFC 296 Fight Cancelled Due to Injury

UFC 296 is set for an unexpected shake-up as Giga Chikadze is no longer able to face Josh Emmett.

Chikadze has sustained an undisclosed injury, and an insider revealed to MMA Junkie on Monday evening that he will not be able to compete. It remains uncertain if the UFC will seek a replacement, and Emmett addressed the situation by posting on X (formerly Twitter), inquiring, “Who’s ready Dec 16th?”

UFC 296 is scheduled for December 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Chikadze vs. Emmett matchup was anticipated as the evening’s main prelim between the No. 6 and No. 8 featherweights in the official UFC rankings.

Chikadze, aged 35, won his most recent bout with a unanimous decision against Alex Caceres last August at UFC Fight Night 225. However, it marked his return to action after a 19-month hiatus following a loss to Calvin Kattar. Additionally, Chikadze was set to face Sodiq Yusuff in September 2022 but withdrew due to injury a week prior to the fight.

Emmett, at 38, was hoping to bounce back against Chikadze after losing both of his fights earlier this year. He suffered a submission loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284, followed by a unanimous decision defeat to Ilia Topuria at UFC on ABC 5.

Below is the UFC 296 lineup:

• Champ Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

• Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett

• Ian Machado Garry vs. Vicente Luque

• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson

• Josh Emmett vs. opponent TBA

• Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa

• Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher

• Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill

• Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield

• Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev

• Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov

• Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie