Sean Strickland calls out Khamzat Chimaev, champ responds
Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland was victorious inside the octagon on Saturday night, defeating Anthony Hernandez by way of third-round technical knockout in the UFC Houston main event.
Following the win, the brash Strickland spoke with fellow former champion Michael Bisping and called out current champion Khamzat Chimaev.
“Chimaev probably gets off the bench. I’d like to piece that little Chechen whore,” Strickland said about hopes for his next challenge. “You never know with him. You never know with that guy but that’s what I want.”
Strickland’s straightforward, no-nonsense attitude suggests he’s ready to test his skills against the undefeated champ.
The callout didn’t stop inside the octagon.
“I made him quit training,” Strickland said at the UFC Houston post-fight media scrum. “Witnesses in the audience, where’s [Strickland’s coach] Eric [Nicksick] at? I made him quit. No, we were doing positional grappling… ‘Alright, start on my back’ and I was like, first round, I let him f*cking choke me because no one gives a f*ck.”
The verbal assault on the current 185-pound kingpin continued.
“Let me tell you about this little b*tch,” Strickland said. “I’ll tell you. When I walk into a gym, do you think that I go find the little, weakest man, I say, ‘Let’s spar?’ I go find the biggest, baddest motherf*cker and I’m like, ‘Hey, I want to spar you.’ Everytime Chimaev would walk in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, ‘But oh, he looks like my opponent.’ … He would pick the smallest guy. Chimaev’s a f*cking bully.
“And if you notice what he does in a division, he just runs and f*cking hides. Now I want to go to 205 and fight f*cking Jiri [Prochazka], who’s not even the f*cking champ. You just run and f*cking hide. You did it when you trained with us, and you’re doing it in the f*cking division.”
Chimaev, who was not present at the event, responded on social media, referring back to his dominant win over former champion Dricus du Plessis.
“Habibi calm down, I destroyed the guy who beat you twice 🤫
American bitch 😂”
Habibi calm down, I destroyed the guy who beat you twice 🤫
American bitch 😂— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) February 22, 2026
If this fight were to happen, it would be a stylistic clash between two contrasting approaches to MMA. Strickland’s striking and pressure against Chimaev’s grappling and wrestling would create a compelling dynamic in the octagon.
