Sean Strickland: Khamzat Chimaev does not deserve a title shot, will fight him anyway
At UFC 294, Khamzat Chimaev beat Kamaru Usman in a bout that was ruled a title eliminator and earned the right to fight UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. The champion plans to honor the agreement but does not think Chimaev earned a title fight.
Strickland expressed his opinion on UFC Fight Pass. All quotes are via The Score.
“Doesn’t f—–g deserve it,” Strickland said Saturday on UFC Fight Pass. “But here we are. Give it to him. … I’ll go f—–g fight the man for five rounds. But no, he has not earned it, he doesn’t f—–g deserve it, and getting a decision with a welterweight off a couch is not f—–g earning it.”
Full quote via The Score
Strickland is currently in need of a contender to defend his belt against. At UFC 293, the champion took the title off Israel Adesanya, but the former champion is taking a break from competition. That leaves Chimaev and Du Plessis as the most viable contenders.
Strickland does provide a reasonable point regarding Chimaev. The former welterweight has not beaten a top middleweight contender. In contrast, Du Plessis beat former champion Robert Whittaker.
The case for Chimaev partially revolves around the eye test as well as the name value. It is evident that Chimaev has remarkable talent and deserves to be fighting the best fighters in the world. Plus, he has quickly become one of the biggest names in the sport. The potential build-up to a fight between Chimaev and Strickland would only increase that star power.
It is interesting that many people believed Strickland did not deserve his title fight when he was given his chance at gold. Strickland was given a title fight off wins over Abus Magomedov and Nassourdine Imavov. At the end of the day, your resume does not matter when you enter the cage. Strickland is first-hand evidence of that.
Regardless of Strickland’s opinion of Chimaev, his willingness to fight him is the attitude that will make him a fan-friendly champion. It is incredibly unlikely that Strickland ever declines a challenger the right to a title fight.
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