Sean Strickland is hoping to re-insert his name in the conversation for a shot at the UFC middleweight title by beating rising contender Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston on Feb. 21. That said, he wonders if it’s good business to get assigned as the next in line for champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Speaking with ESPN ahead of his first fight back from losing the UFC title to Dricus Du Plessis in February 2025, Strickland said he doesn’t like Chimaev’s activity as champion.
“It’s kind of weird what the UFC did with Chimaev,” Strickland said. “You brought a guy in that fights once a year who’s like [f*cking] Madonna, who probably gets like, I mean, how much money is that dictator give him under the [f*cking] table. The guy doesn’t need to [f*cking] fight. Dude is [f*cking] best friends with a [f*cking] warlord, you know? He doesn’t need to [f*cking] fight. Dude gets gifted G wagons. So you have somebody who like, he’s just gonna sit on the [f*cking] belt and wait and wait until they force him to fight.”
Chimaev won the belt in August 2025, beating Du Plessis in a five-round decision, and has yet to book his first defense. “Borz” joined the UFC in 2020 and shocked the world with three wins in a span of two months, but only entered the octagon six times over the next five years.
It’s still unclear who will be next in line for Chimaev, and Strickland criticized the champion for being against the idea of facing Dagestani middleweight Nassourdine Imavov.
“It’s not how this [f*cking] sport works, dude,” Strickland said. “Don’t be a [b*tch], go fight that guy. Now 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. Say Chimaev goes and fights Nassourdine in six months. Well, let’s say Chimaev sprains his [f*cking] pinkie like he normally does, now he takes another year off. So it’s like, you’re off for two years where the belt isn’t even in my brain anymore.
“Think about it. Like, I’ll make significantly more money just fighting. It’s shitty, but it’s like, you say, ‘Hey, you want to wait a year and a half and not fight or just keep [f*cking] fighting and fighting good guys and maybe taking an L?’ I’ll just go fight good guys, maybe take an L and I’ll triple my [f*cking] pay. Let’s just say ‘Fluffy’ beats me. ‘Fluffy, we want you for a title fight.’ Well, I mean, he’s going to fight Nassourdine and probably what, six months?”
Strickland said he’s in the sport “to make money” and “I’ll make significantly more money not fighting for a belt or waiting for Chimaev’s pinky to feel better”, poking fun of him for being away for so long.
“Every time this guy fights he has a mysterious injury,” Strickland said. “Why wait?”
Strickland called his upcoming opponent a better wrestler than Chimaev, seeing himself as the one to give Chimaev his first loss in MMA.
“That would be a big fight,” Strickland said of facing Chimaev. “I think I’m probably the only one that could beat Chimaev. I honestly think ‘Fluffy’s’ a better wrestler than Chimaev. I think pace-wise, style-wise, I think over five rounds, ‘Fluffy’s’ probably a better [wrestler]. But then stand-up, I think Chimaev might take him to a stand-up decision.”
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