“Gloves or No Gloves” Sean Strickland Claims Khamzat Chimaev Backed Out From Fighting After Misunderstanding a Joke

Khamzat Chimaev just secured a decision win over Kamaru Usman. However, is his bigger foe Sean Strickland? There’s no real way to tell since both of them are in a different weight class. However, the Chechnya native did move to middleweight to fight Usman.

Strickland recently sat down for a conversation and recalled an incident involving Chimaev. The fighter had made some jokes about the home country of ‘Borz’. What ensued next was a war of words that Strickland was ready to take to fists. However, Chimaev’s next move made Strickland believe that he and ‘Borz’ were “different.”

Sean Strickland was ready to take it to the streets

Sean Strickland recently appeared on the Extra Rounds UFC podcast. He discussed a bunch of things with the hosts regarding UFC 294. When talking about 294, there was no way that one of the victors, Khamzat Chimaev, didn’t get mentioned.

When the three were speaking of Chimaev, Strickland remembered an incident between him and ‘Borz’. ‘Tarzan’ is known for making jokes that are just a little too close for comfort. He mentioned this one time when he made fun of Chechnya. Chimaev did not take the remark kindly.

“Let me tell you about Chimaev guys this is a fu*king true story,” started Strickland. “one day I made fun of Chechnya and he misunderstood what I said. It was more like a compliment to the fighter and he sent me a message talking sh*t and I said, ‘Chimaev, you misunderstood but I will see you tomorrow at three o’clock. Gloves or no gloves, turn up, he said ‘no, no. no we talk about it’. There’s the thing about Chimaev, the man can fight… but me and him are fu*king different.” 

Clearly, Chimaev took an approach that didn’t involve any fighting outside of the cage. Khamzat Chimaev backed out of the invitation, giving Strickland the impression that he wasn’t ready for the fight. In the meantime, the two are still a bit distant from one another when it comes to fighting inside the Octagon.

Is a Strickland vs Chimaev matchup possible?

It can be made possible if Chimaev decides to move up divisions. Chimaev has just defeated one of the greatest welterweight fighters of all time at UFC 294. The fight ended with Chimaev winning by a majority decision, but Usman didn’t make it easy, thwarting every single takedown attempt.

Also Read: Sean Strickland Unleashes His Wrath on Kamaru Usman While Accepting Khamzat Chimaev as a Worthy MW Contender- “ This Is Kind of a Bullsh*t Fight”

Now, either of the two fighters could go up to a different division to challenge the champion himself. As of right now, Strickland has no opponent fixed for his first title defense. Will he be facing one of Chimaev or Usman sometime soon? Only time can tell.

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