The recent statements that UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland made about Khamzat Chimaev appear to have backfired on him. At this time, the unbeaten Chimaev is slated to compete against Kamaru Usman, who is a former UFC welterweight champion, in a significant middleweight battle that will take place at UFC 294 on October 21, 2023.
In the beginning, Chimaev was scheduled to compete against Paulo Costa at UFC 294. However, Costa was forced to pull out of their match due to health concerns connected to the elbow surgery he recently underwent. As a last-minute replacement for Chimaev, the UFC recruited Usman approximately ten days before UFC 294 to take on the challenge.
UFC Chief Operating Officer Dana White mentioned the Chimaev-Usman bout, and he mentioned that the winner of that fight would have the next opportunity to challenge UFC Middleweight Kingpin Kevin Strickland for the title.
A recent episode of Sean Strickland’s podcast, “The Man Dance,” focused on a conversation about the forthcoming fight between Chimaev and Usman. According to Strickland, the primary reason Usman agreed to fight on such short notice was the big cash that was expected to come with the opportunity.
‘Tarzan’ went on to imply that ‘Borz’ ought easily “steamroll’ Usman because he hadn’t been fattening up for a middleweight debut and wasn’t even in a full-fledged training camp prior to the fight.
Expansion of a Tweet
Sean Strickland underlined that if Khamzat Chimaev is unable to dominate Kamaru Usman, it will be a terrible reflection on the show ‘Borz.’ The mixed martial arts (MMA) community has reacted to Strickland’s statements and criticized him for the same reason. Some fans brought up the fact that Usman decisively defeated “Tarzan” in their welterweight fight back in 2017, winning by unanimous decision.
Many people pointed out on Twitter (X) that Strickland was routed by an up-and-coming version of Usman, and they said that the victory belonged to Usman. Others were of the opinion that “Tarzan” will get steamrolled by both Usman and Chimaev, with Chimaev being referred to as the “worst nightmare” for the middleweight champion.
In addition, a number of fans have brought up the fact that the UFC made an effort to recruit Strickland to fight Chimaev on short notice after Costa withdrew from UFC 294, but they were unsuccessful. They claimed that Strickland passed up the opportunity to compete against ‘Borz’ at the UFC 294 event and instead chose not to do so. In addition, one fan tweeted the following, which seemed to imply that ‘Tarzan’ would be defeated in a decisive manner by both Chimaev and Usman:
Khamzat Chimaev’s remarks about Kamaru Usman mirror that of Sean Strickland’s
Khamzat Chimaev, speaking about Kamaru Usman at a media scrum that took place during fight week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, echoed thoughts that Sean Strickland had previously expressed. Chimaev, following in the footsteps of Strickland, postulated that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had only accepted to their short-notice battle at UFC 294 for financial motives.
In addition to this, it seemed as though ‘Borz’ was implying that Kamaru Usman is facing Chimaev only because to the fact that Chimaev is a star and that fighting him would mean competing in a money fight. The battle between Khamzat Chimaev and Usman has long been considered a dream matchup in the world of UFC, as Chimaev pointed out in his explanation. According to Chimaev:
“Of course [people are more enthusiastic for Chimaev-Usman than Chimaev-Costa], since ever since the first day I got to the UFC, everyone spoke about Khamzat-Usman, Khamzat-Usman…,” Chimaev said. “Of course [people are more excited for Chimaev-Usman than Chimaev-Costa]. Usman is a fighter in the same vein as myself, although an older version. I’m brand new, and I’m different.”
