Sean Strickland didn’t waste time reigniting his rivalry with UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev following his main event victory at UFC Houston.
Fresh off a win over Anthony Hernandez, Sean Strickland addressed recent comments from Chimaev, who claimed that Strickland disliked him because he once forced him to tap during a training session. According to Strickland, the story couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I made him quit training,” Sean Strickland said during the UFC Houston post-fight media scrum. “Witnesses in the audience — where’s Eric Nicksick at? I made him quit. We were doing positional grappling… ‘Alright, start on my back,’ and I let him choke me because no one gives a f*ck.”
Strickland insisted that their time training together revealed more about Chimaev’s mentality than anything else. In his view, the undefeated champion preferred easier matchups rather than testing himself against elite competition inside the gym.
“When I walk into a gym, do you think I go find the weakest guy and say, ‘Let’s spar?’” Sean Strickland said. “I go find the biggest, baddest guy in the room. Every time Chimaev walked in, he picked the smallest, lowest-level pro and said, ‘He looks like my opponent.’ He would pick the smallest guy. Chimaev’s a f*cking bully.”
The outspoken former champion also accused Chimaev of avoiding difficult challenges in the division. Rumors recently surfaced online suggesting Chimaev could move up to light heavyweight for a potential fight with Jiri Prochazka, though no official announcement has been made.
“If you notice what he does in a division, he just runs and hides,” Sean Strickland said. “Now you want to go to 205 and fight Jiri, who’s not even the champ. You did it when you trained with us, and you’re doing it in the division.”
Chimaev captured the UFC middleweight title with a dominant decision win over Dricus du Plessis in August but has yet to schedule his first title defense. Sean Strickland believes the delay only fuels questions about the champion’s intentions.
Strickland also referenced Chimaev’s war with Gilbert Burns, suggesting that fight exposed vulnerabilities despite the victory.
“Look at when he fought my boy Gilbert Burns,” Sean Strickland said. “Gilbert Burns is like 5-foot-8 and almost got him. Gilbert pulled his card. He’s a savage, but it showed something.”
Earlier in fight week, Sean Strickland had already criticized Chimaev for focusing on potential superfights instead of defending his title.
“Every fight this guy fights, he’s injured,” Sean Strickland said. “There’s always some mysterious injury. There’s no MRI, no X-ray — but somehow something always breaks.”
After finishing Hernandez via third-round TKO, Strickland made his intentions crystal clear.
“If Chimaev finally gets off the bench, I’d like a piece of him,” Sean Strickland said. “That’s who I want.”
Chimaev quickly responded on social media, firing back with a reminder of his championship credentials.
“Habibi calm down, I destroyed the guy who beat you twice,” Chimaev wrote on X.
The back-and-forth has only intensified fan interest in a potential clash between the two middleweights. With Sean Strickland back in the win column and openly targeting the champion, a showdown with Chimaev could soon become one of the UFC’s most anticipated title fights.
