Manager: Chimaev Wasn’t Discussed for Sean Strickland’s UFC 297 Title Defense

Contrary to popular belief, Khamzat Chimaev was reportedly not even considered as a potential opponent for Sean Strickland’s first title defense at UFC 297.

After years of troublesome weight cuts and dominant finishes at welterweight, Chimaev (13-0) made a move to middleweight last month opposite Kamaru Usman, who also made his short notice debut at 185 pounds. “Borz” picked up a majority decision win over Usman in the co-main event at UFC 294. While the fight was believed to be a title eliminator, Chimaev’s victory wasn’t especially decisive.

Strickland (28-5) is now scheduled to defend his throne against South African standout Dricus Du Plessis (20-2) in the UFC 297 main event on Jan. 20 in Toronto. According to Strickland’s manager, Iridium Sports Agency’s Lance Spaude, Chimaev’s name didn’t come up during UFC 297 conversations.

“Never even brought up in the discussion,” Spaude said on the MMA Mania "Sound & Pound” podcast. “I don’t really know what Chimaev and his team are looking to do, but yeah, it wasn’t even really an option. Maybe they’re looking down the road. Maybe his wrist or hand is really as bad as they say it is. You hear a bunch of things. Sean’s a guy who will do what the UFC asks him to do when they ask him to do it as long as everything naturally makes sense for him.

Spaude also believes that Strickland’s upcoming opponent Du Plessis is a tougher matchup than people perceive him to be.

“He is very, very difficult to get a read on because you watch him and it looks like he’s doing things wrong, he’s not super clean, he’s not super polished, but he wins and he’s tough and he looks tired from the first five seconds of the fight, but he runs the same pace for 15 minutes, maybe 25, we’ll see. I think it’s a difficult fight. More so than people give Dricus credit for.”

“Stillknocks” is currently on a six-fight winning streak in the promotion and is coming off a Round 2 technical knockout victory against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in July at UFC 290.