Sean Strickland has hit out as Khamzat Chimaev over a perceived lack of activity, suggesting that UFC fighters are better off not thinking about the middleweight champion.
Chimaev last fought in August, dominating Dricus Du Plessis to take the middleweight belt and cap off a strange run to the top of the division. Whenever the Russian entered the Octagon between his 2020 debut and his title win last year, he was unstoppable, but illness, travel issues and jumping between divisions slowed his rise.
And Strickland, who held the middleweight title from September 2023 until he was dethroned by Du Plessis in January 2024, is worried that Chimaev will be no more active as champion than he was as a contender.
“It’s kind of weird what the UFC did with Chimaev,” the American told ESPN. “You brought a guy in that fights once a year [...] He’s just gonna sit on that f***ing belt and wait and wait, until they force him to fight.
“The middleweight division, man... From a pure money perspective, you would make more money not fighting for the belt than you would fighting for the belt [...] The belt isn’t even on my brain anymore, I don’t think about it. I’ll make significantly more money just fighting.
“You say, ‘Hey, do you wanna wait a year-and-a-half [for the champion] and not fight, or just keep f***ing fighting – and fighting good guys – and maybe take an L?’ I’ll just go fight good guys, maybe take an L, and I’ll triple my f***ing pay.”
Strickland, 34, then pointed to his next opponent, as he prepares to face rising contender Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez next Saturday.
“Let’s just say Fluffy beats me, and they’re like: ‘Fluffy, we want you for a title fight,’” Strickland started. “[Chimaev] is gonna fight Nassourdine [Imavov] in probably, what, six months? Say they have a hard fight, or even if they have an easy fight, he sprains his f***ing pinky toe, he’s out for another eight months.
“So Fluffy, you’re not fighting for a year-and-a-half, if you wanna wait for [Chimaev]. And I’m sure he would, but me personally, I don’t give a f***. Give me my pay check, I wanna go fight.
“Every f***ing fight, the dude is like: ‘I broke my hand.’ It’s like, every time this f***ing guy fights, he has a mysterious injury. Why wait [for him]?”
Chimaev has actually rarely been injured during his UFC run, but the 31-year-old has battled illness throughout his time in the promotion. He reportedly suffered the effects of long Covid after the 2020 pandemic, and as a result, he has seen fights cancelled on six occasions.
Those included three attempted pairings with Leon Edwards, one with Nate Diaz, one with Paulo Costa, and one with Robert Whittaker – whom Chimaev later submitted.
Strickland, who actually previously trained with Chimaev, last fought in February 2025, losing a rematch with Du Plessis. Strickland was outpointed by the South African, just as he was when he dropped the belt to “DDP” 13 months earlier.
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