WATCH | Giga Chikadze shares exact moment he tore his groin which forced him out of UFC 296 fight against Josh Emmett

Giga Chikadze has been forced out of his UFC 296 fight against Josh Emmett.

Emmett took to social media on Monday evening to reveal that Chikadze is out of their fight next weekend at UFC 296. He also confirmed he wants to remain on the card and is hopeful to get a replacement opponent.

Giga’s Out ❌
–
Who’s ready Dec 16th? #UFC296

— JOSH EMMETT (@JoshEmmettUFC) December 4, 2023

“Giga’s Out. – Who’s ready Dec 16th?,” Emmett wrote on social media.

Shortly after Emmett’s tweet, Giga Chikadze took to social media to confirm he’s out of the fight with a torn groin. He also shared the exact moment it happened in training as Chikadze threw a kick and then went down to the ground in pain.

Sh*t happens! Tore groin! I’ll be back soon! pic.twitter.com/ABMggWhHdM

— GIGACHAD (@giga_chikadze) December 5, 2023

“Shit happens. Tore groin. I’ll be back soon,” Chikadze said.

Right after throwing the kick, you can hear Chikadze scream in pain and immediately fall to the ground. How long he will be out is uncertain, but he won’t be fighting at UFC 296.

Giga Chikadze (15-3) is coming off a decision win over Alex Caceres back in August in his first fight since January of 2022 when he dropped a decision to Calvin Kattar. Chikadze is 8-1 in the UFC and ranked eighth at featherweight with notable wins over Edson Barboza, Cub Swanson, and Jamall Emmers.

Josh Emmett (18-4) is on a two-fight losing skid and coming off a decision loss to Ilia Topuria in June. Before that, he suffered a submission loss to Yair Rodriguez for the interim featherweight champion. Emmett is ranked sixth at featherweight and holds notable wins over Kattar, Dan Ige, Shane Burgos, and Ricardo Lamas among others.

With Giga Chikadze out, UFC 296 is as follows:

• Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington
• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson
• Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
• Vicente Luque vs. Ian Machado Garry
• Tagi Ulanbekov vs. Cody Durden
• Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
• Casey O’Neill vs. Ariane Lipski
• Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Dustin Jacoby
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher
• Josh Emmett vs. TBD
• Shamil Gaziev vs. Martin Buday
• Andre Fili vs. Lucas Almeida