Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t really feel the need to get into an ugly war of words with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland because a fight between them will solve everything.
During a charity appearance raising money for Palestine, Chimaev addressed Strickland’s often controversial comments but more specifically targeting some particularly fiery messages he sent to Belal Muhammad on social media. The exchange started after Muhammad posted “pray for Palestine” amid the ongoing conflict with Israel on Twitter, which led to Strickland taking aim at him in a series of posts.
Chimaev had a similar message posted on his own social media accounts but Strickland never addressed him directly and he’s confident he knows why.
“He has to be afraid,” Chimaev said speaking to Mohammed Hijab on his YouTube channel. “I’m coming for him.”
While Chimaev has never been scared to speak his mind, he also made it clear that he wants to set a good example for people watching him, which only adds to the reasons why he doesn’t see the need to start trading insults with Strickland online.
“The fight’s in the cage,” Chimaev said. “If we can make some people happy who are going through hard times, all Muslims watching us, me and Khabib [Nurmagomedov], all of the Muslim fighters, Belal [Muhammad], we know all the kids watching want to be like us, they want to be strong people. Inshallah, we try to be a good picture for them.
“Sean Strickland, all these guys, they should be afraid of us. We fight not just for us like they do, we fight for all Muslims.”
Of course, Chimaev spent time training alongside Strickland when both fighters were working out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, which only adds to the storyline about a potential fight between them.
Since then, Strickland shocked the world when he claimed the UFC middleweight title with a stunning performance to beat Israel Adesanya this past September. That win surprised just about everybody but Chimaev actually had a feeling it might happen.
“I knew this fight, something was going to happen strange,” Chimaev said. “I was thinking if Sean Strickland get the knockdown in the first round, I was thinking he was going to win the fight. I didn’t say it to anyone, I was just holding it to myself. He won the fight. He’s one of the good fighters, not bad but for us, it’s no problem.”
Chimaev last appeared in the UFC this past October when he scored a hard-fought win over ex-welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a No. 1 contender’s match. Afterwards, Chimaev dealt with a torn ligament in his hand that delayed his return to action so the UFC turned to Dricus Du Plesis for the next title shot.
Strickland and Du Plessis are now scheduled to clash in the UFC 297 main event on Jan. 20 but Chimaev fully expects to draw the winner in his return later this year.
“He has the fight now, he has a good fighter who’s fighting with him [Dricus] du Plessis, if he wins against this guy, for sure we’re going to fight,” Chimaev said. “100 percent it should be.
“They promised me that fight. Now we’re going to wait [to see] who is winning that fight and take the belt.”
