Sean Strickland had options after losing the UFC middleweight title but wound up with Paulo Costa.
Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) takes on Costa (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in the UFC 302 co-main event June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. But before the Costa match became official, Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture, revealed the UFC brass mentioned the possibility of a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) before he was booked against Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 6.