Khamzat Chimaev came out of his fight against Kamaru Usaman at UFC 294 with a close majority decision win. That victory also puts him in the No. 1 contender’s spot for a middleweight title fight against Sean Strickland.
“Tarzan” wasn’t impressed with the UFC’s decision to award his first belt defense to a couple of fighters moving up from welterweight. He voiced his opposition to the matchmaking coming into Abu Dhabi, and now he’s continuing to talk Chimaev down as a challenger. That doesn’t mean he won’t fight him, though.
“The only thing I like about Chimaev is that he sells fights,” Strickland said on UFC’s Extra Rounds show (via The Mac Life). “For some reason, people f—ing like him or don’t like him. I don’t know. To me, he’s a f—ing paycheck. He sells a lot of fights. People pay to watch, but he f—ing hasn’t earned it. He doesn’t f—ing deserve it, but here we are.”
multiple sources reporting that Chimaev is currently unable to secure a visa to enter the United States, Strickland doesn’t have to worry too much about “Borz” suddenly appearing in Las Vegas. There is the UFC’s big debut event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia coming up for March. If the UFC wants to make this title shot happen, there’s no better date than that.
They just have to hope Khamzat is healthy for it.
