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Sean Strickland already has a long list of grievances with Khamzat Chimaev, and a new one was added recently when the UFC middleweight champion unexpectedly posted a short clip of a past training session between them on social media.
The 25-second video shows little more than Chimaev and Strickland exchanging jabs, but it was accompanied by the caption: “Bullying weak people.” Chimaev’s comment came after Strickland accused him of choosing lower-ranked fighters as sparring partners instead of seeking more serious competition in the gym.
According to Strickland, the release of the sparring footage only reinforces his point about one of his biggest complaints regarding his upcoming opponent.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Strickland stated during UFC 328 media day. “This guy is just a little, f***ing rat. First off, I didn’t know we were filming. Those were our warm-up rounds. You’re just a weak man. You’re just a very, very weak man. What’s the point? We’re doing light sparring. I’ll admit, those shorts of mine are a bit questionable. They were from Amazon. The camera angle was bad,” he joked.
Jokes aside, Strickland claims he has only sparred with Chimaev once, despite trying to get more cage time with the future UFC champion. Unfortunately, according to him, Chimaev wasn't interested, so there wasn't much to learn from that brief past interaction.
“We’ve only sparred once, something like three rounds,” Strickland said. “Only once. I keep telling you guys. When I go to a gym, I want to spar with the best. I wanted to fight him, but he always went to beat up the weaker guys.”
As for Chimaev’s claim that he personally requested this fight from the UFC, Strickland has no idea if that’s true. The only thing the American is sure of is that the UFC made the right decision by setting up this bout against Chimaev, especially given the lack of strong options below him in the rankings.
The only thing Strickland is certain of is that the UFC made the right decision by setting up this bout against Chimaev, especially given the lack of strong options below him in the rankings.
“I think it’s a good fight, a fun fight too,” Strickland added. “There are so many guys in the division, but who’s in the top five? Brendan Allen? Khamzat’s punching bag. His meat. Who else is in the top five of the division right now? It’s good to have a fresh look, new blood. I think this fight just made sense.”
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