Khamzat Chimaev sent a stern warning to his rival, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, whom he badly wants to fight in a rematch.
Chimaev lost his middleweight title in what was a failed first title defense to Strickland at UFC 328, when he dropped a narrow split decision.
Since that fight, Chimaev has called out Strickland several times for a rematch, but so far, nothing has been booked.
On Monday, the Chechen once again called the American out for another fight inside the Octagon.
Khamzat Chimaev Sends Stern Warning to Sean Strickland
Taking to his social media, Chimaev sent a stern warning to Strickland.
“Accept the fight, don’t run, I’ll beat you anyway, The sooner this happens, the easier it will be to breathe @SStricklandMMA,” Chimaev wrote on X.
Although Strickland has been active on X since Chimaev sent the message, the champ has yet to respond to Chimaev’s warning, as he is choosing to ignore him instead.
It’s worth noting that Strickland recently said that he will likely not return to the Octagon until December as he is recovering from a shoulder injury, so even if Chimaev calls him out and gets the rematch, this fight won’t be taking place until later this year.
Who Gets the Next Middleweight Title Shot?
While Chimaev wants to fight for the middleweight belt next, Nassourdine Imavov is more deserving since he has won five straight fights inside the Octagon, while Chimaev is coming off a loss to Strickland.
That being said, we all know the UFC tends to book the biggest money fights possible, and there is no doubt that a second matchup between Chimaev and Strickland is bigger than a second matchup between Imavov and Strickland.
UFC president Dana White recently admitted that he does not yet know what the UFC will do when it comes to giving out the next title shot at 185 lbs. While White initially suggested it would be Imavov, the fact that he hasn’t outright come out and said it can be a reason to believe that Chimaev might end up getting the title shot against Strickland instead.
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