Sean Strickland is the stiffest problem that Khamzat Chimaev may face throughout his tenure as UFC middleweight champion. This sentiment was expressed by a former 185-pound titleholder inside the Final Preventing Championship. Luke Rockhold was the fighter in query, and he expressed this thought throughout a current look on the Jaxxon podcast.
Expounding upon his ideas concerning a possible Chimaev vs. Strickland title conflict, Rockhold stated,
“I hate to say it, however Strickland ought to win a combat, and he’s most likely the hardest take a look at for Khamzat. Strickland is annoyingly exhausting to carry down. He’s not that good on the bottom, however he can stand up, and that’s the most important factor with Khamzat – he can’t hold him down. Khamzat has acquired to get comfy on the ft. If he can’t hold a man down, it could possibly be robust. [Training together] performs a task in each their heads.”
Sean Strickland echoes the identical sentiments concerning his possibilities towards Khamzat Chimaev
Sean Strickland additionally likes his possibilities in a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, however like Rockhold stated, Strickland additionally understands he must get again to profitable methods to safe a prizefight like that. Strickland and Chimaev have a well-documented coaching historical past with each other, with the 2 having residual unhealthy blood from their time within the fitness center collectively.
Strickland fell brief in a middleweight title bid towards Dricus du Plessis in February, with Chimaev capturing that strap from DDP in August. Sean Strickland has talked about the title of Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez as somebody he want to combat subsequent, as he has a wave of momentum that might safe the previous a title shot if he will get a win over the latter.
Strickland additionally playfully referred to as ‘Fluffy’ the American Chimaev and thinks securing a win over somebody like Hernandez can be indicator for the way Strickland would do towards Chimaev. Calling out the reigning UFC champion and addressing his personal intentions to change into a two-time titleholder at 185 kilos, Strickland said [via MMA Weekly],
“I wish to combat Chimaev. And you understand, a whole lot of it looks like a private vendetta as a result of I’m the one f**king one which beats Chimaev. Chimaev is aware of this. His camp is aware of this. All people f**king is aware of this, dude. I’m the one one which f**king beats you. I’ve wrestled with all the blokes that he’s going to combat and he’s simply going to f**king steamroll them.”
