Sean Strickland is ready to take on Khamzat Chimaev, especially after having spent gym time with the UFC middleweight champion in the past.
Chimaev said in a recent interview that Strickland doesn’t like him, because he made Strickland tap out in a previous training session together. Following Strickland’s main event win over Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston on Saturday, Strickland was asked about Chimaev’s comments, and he replied the situation was actually the opposite of how Chimaev described it.
“I made him quit training,” Strickland said at the UFC Houston post-fight media scrum. “Witnesses in the audience, where’s [Strickland’s coach] Eric [Nicksick] at? I made him quit. No, we were doing positional grappling… ‘Alright, start on my back’ and I was like, first round, I let him f*cking choke me because no one gives a f*ck.”
According to Strickland, even when they didn’t train together, it was evident to him that Chimaev wasn’t interested in working with the best; rather, he believes Chimaev came to the gym looking to push less qualified fighters around.
“Let me tell you about this little b*tch,” Strickland said. “I’ll tell you. When I walk into a gym, do you think that I go find the little, weakest man, I say, ‘Let’s spar?’ I go find the biggest, baddest motherf*cker and I’m like, ‘Hey, I want to spar you.’ Everytime Chimaev would walk in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, ‘But oh, he looks like my opponent.’ … He would pick the smallest guy. Chimaev’s a f*cking bully.
“And if you notice what he does in a division, he just runs and f*cking hides. Now I want to go to 205 and fight f*cking Jiri [Prochazka], who’s not even the f*cking champ. You just run and f*cking hide. You did it when you trained with us, and you’re doing it in the f*cking division.”
Strickland was referring to a recent rumor that has been circulating online regarding Chimaev supposedly moving up to 205 pounds to fight Jiri Prochazka for an interim light heavyweight title, with current division champion Alex Pereira presumably moving up to heavyweight. The rumor has not been substantiated.
Chimaev won the UFC middleweight championship with a dominant decision victory over Dricus du Plessis this past August, but is yet to book his first title defense. In Strickland’s eyes, he thinks the undefeated Chimaev is changing divisions to avoid tough challenges. He previously committed to competing at 185 pounds after bouncing between middleweight and welterweight.
“Look at when he fought my boy, Gilbert f*cking Burns, good f*cking family man. … Gilbert Burns f*cking pulled his card,” Strickland said. “Gilbert Burns is, like, 5-foot-8 and almost f*cked him up. Did a g*ddamn good job, Gilbert Burns is a savage, but it’s like, you’re just a f*cking bully.”
Chimaev has already responded to Strickland’s claims, pointing out that he defeated du Plessis, who holds two wins over Strickland.
See Chimaev’s social media reply below.
Habibi calm down, I destroyed the guy who beat you twice
American bitch
