Sean Strickland is once again the UFC middleweight champion of the world. And apparently he accomplished the feat while being far from full health.
On Saturday at UFC 328, Strickland handed Khamzat Chimaev the first loss of the Chechen’s impressive 16-fight career, winning a split decision in a seismic upset in Newark, New Jersey. In the hours afterward, Strickland revealed that he suffered an injury to his shoulder during fight week.
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“Funny story — on Tuesday, I’m sparring Johnny [Eblen], that motherf***er, PFL champ. I’m at Plinio Cruz’s gym. He shoots on me, and I hit his brick-ass wall, and I separate my shoulder,” Strickland said at UFC 328’s post-fight press conference. “So I had a grade-one AC joint separation on Tuesday. I remember lying in bed on Tuesday night, and I can’t lie on my right side. I’m like, ‘You’re such a f***ing idiot. You’re such a f***ing idiot.’
“In the back [before the fighter], I normally like to get better warm-ups, but I didn’t want to warm up and throw my shoulder out. So the entire time, I’m like, ‘You’re a f***ing moron.'”
The injury wasn’t ideal for a matchup against a fearsome wrestler like Chimaev, and Strickland felt the effects of it immediately. Round 1 was all Chimaev, in his typical dominant fashion, controlling Strickland around the cage with suffocating grappling for nearly the round’s entirety.
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Strickland, 35, rallied in the second and managed to keep the fight largely on the feet for its remainder. It wasn’t until the fifth that Strickland began to worry.
“Did you see what he did to me in the fifth round?” Strickland said. “He pointed at the mat and said, ‘Let’s give the people what they want, let’s have the man dance,’ or some s***. And I was like, ‘OK. I trust you, the guy that just kicked me in the balls yesterday. I trust you, Chimaev. You seem like a real trustworthy guy. I like your smile. We shook hands, I believe you.’
“So I put my hands up, and he f***ing shoots on me. I remember thinking, he had me against he cage, and I was like, ‘Dude, if you lose this f***ing fight because you were a f***ing c*** and trusted this man, I’m going to go commit suicide. You are a stupid motherf***er, Sean.’ I was so salty, dude.”
Despite any bad blood prior to the bout, Strickland put it all aside by the night’s end. He admitted that Chimaev is a “savage” and gave the now-former champ props for continually walking forward.
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As for what’s next, a rematch may be in order — but not for Chimaev. According to UFC CEO Dana White, “Borz” has his eyes on a potential move to light heavyweight, which fully opens the door back to Nassourdine Imavov.
The two top-ranked middleweights first met in January 2023 in a light heavyweight clash. Strickland won the fight by unanimous decision and eventually skipped over Imavov for Saturday’s opportunity to challenge Chimaev.
With Imavov as the top contender left in the rankings, Strickland is all for the idea of running things back in their proper weight class.
“I truly believe in UFC rankings. I think they f***ing matter, and I hate when guys jump them, so if that’s who it is, let’s go,” Strickland said.
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Imavov will be glad to hear the new two-time champion isn’t opposed to granting the France-based contender his first career title shot. However, Strickland made it clear that Imavov shouldn’t expect the fight to come on anything but U.S. soil.
“I love the French folks. I don’t consider Nassourdine French — I don’t know if he even considers himself French. He might live there, but he ain’t f***ing French,” Strickland said. “He don’t believe in French. He doesn’t stand by French people. But I am never leaving this f***ing country again. I ain’t going on vacation. I will never fight outside America again. I am a f***ing American, and I will f***ing die in this country.”
