Sean Strickland Reveals That He “Mauled” Khamzat Chimaev During Grappling Exchanges In the Gym
MMA’s erratic bad boy and former UFC Middleweight Champion, Sean Strickland, spoke with MMA Junkie about UFC 320, and to discuss his own fighting future. During the interview, Strickland revealed that he had completed several training rounds with current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira in preparation for last Saturday’s main event. He described Pereira’s power as something that can end a sparring round at any given moment.
When the reporter brought up Magomed Ankalaev, who has trained with Strickland in the past, Sean dismissed any notion of conflict.
“Ankalaev is my boy,” Strickland said. “As far as ability and skill go, he’s probably one of the best in the world.”
Strickland also gave his take on the potential super-fight between Jon Jones and Alex Pereira.
“If there’s anyone who can beat Jon Jones, it’s Alex. But Jon Jones? That guy can wrestle, dude. That level of Black athleticism, that man can wrestle. When you come from a lineage of D1 professional athletes, you move different.”
He continued, “Alex is really hard to take down. His natural stance is hips in. He doesn’t react like most guys do.”
As the conversation shifted, the topic turned to the reigning Middleweight Champion, Khamzat Chimaev.
Sean Strickland on Chimaev: “Nobody’s Going to Beat Him”
“He made me realize I should wrestle,” Strickland admitted. “What annoys me about Chimaev is that nobody is going to beat him. Once you get past that first round, it turns into a kickboxing match. Once he realizes he can’t just maul you, the fight changes.”
When asked who he believed had the best chance of beating Khamzat, Strickland told media : “I can image him and Fluffy’ going it” was the reply when asked what who had the best chance of beating the new middleweight king.
Recalling a past training session with Hernandez, Strickland said, “I broke my arm and was training with him like two weeks later, and I was mauling him in grappling. He’s really good at jiu-jitsu, bro—like, legit good—but here’s the thing about jiu-jitsu: you just don’t let it happen. If you take someone down and don’t pass their guard or give them your arm, they just lay on their back. Sometimes it’s even easier because they’re not trying to get back up.”
