Sean Strickland is the stiffest challenge that Khamzat Chimaev could face during his tenure as UFC middleweight champion. This sentiment was expressed by a former 185-pound titleholder within the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Luke Rockhold was the fighter in question, and he expressed this thought during a recent appearance on the Jaxxon podcast.
Expounding upon his thoughts regarding a potential Chimaev vs. Strickland title clash, Rockhold said,
“I hate to say it, but Strickland should win a fight, and he’s probably the toughest test for Khamzat. Strickland is annoyingly hard to hold down. He’s not that good on the ground, but he can get up, and that’s the biggest thing with Khamzat – he cannot keep him down. Khamzat has got to get comfortable on the feet. If he can’t keep a guy down, it could be tough. [Training together] plays a role in both their heads.”
Sean Strickland echoes the same sentiments regarding his chances against Khamzat Chimaev
Sean Strickland also likes his chances in a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, but like Rockhold said, Strickland also understands he needs to get back to winning ways to secure a prizefight like that. Strickland and Chimaev have a well-documented training history with one another, with the two having residual bad blood from their time in the gym together.
Strickland fell short in a middleweight title bid against Dricus du Plessis in February, with Chimaev capturing that strap from DDP in August. Sean Strickland has mentioned the name of Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez as someone he would like to fight next, as he has a wave of momentum that could secure the former a title shot if he gets a win over the latter.
Strickland also playfully called ‘Fluffy’ the American Chimaev and thinks securing a win over someone like Hernandez would be a good indicator for how Strickland would do against Chimaev. Calling out the reigning UFC champion and addressing his own intentions to become a two-time titleholder at 185 pounds, Strickland stated [via MMA Weekly],
“I want to fight Chimaev. And you know, a lot of it feels like a personal vendetta because I’m the only f**king one that beats Chimaev. Chimaev knows this. His camp knows this. Everybody f**king knows this, dude. I’m the only one that f**king beats you. I’ve wrestled with all the guys that he’s going to fight and he’s just going to f**king steamroll them.”