Khamzat Chimaev Tweets and Deletes Regarding Sean Strickland Title Fight Hinting at American Judges

Khamzat Chimaev hinted at UFC 328's American judges being biased towards his American opponent, Sean Strickland.

Khamzat Chimaev Tweets and Deletes Regarding Sean Strickland Title Fight Hinting at American Judges

Khamzat Chimaev wants a rematch against Sean Strickland [via Reddit and MMA Fighting]

In Short
  • Khamzat Chimaev tweeted and deleted posts suggesting he was robbed in his fight against Sean Strickland due to American judges.
  • Chimaev called for a rematch with Strickland, accusing him of ducking and trying to avoid another fight.
  • UFC CEO Dana White indicated a rematch is unlikely as Strickland plans to move up to light heavyweight.

The feud between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland seemed to be over after their fight at UFC 328. The two settled things in the octagon before embracing each other after the final horn. However, Chimaev’s recent social media activity shows that he is certainly not through with the UFC middleweight champion.

Things had gotten extremely volatile between the middleweights leading up to their clash at UFC 328. Not only did they trade barbs and threaten violence against each other, but Strickland even visited Newport Beach, trying to lure Chimaev out of his training facility at Santo Studio. This all culminated in the former middleweight champion kicking his American rival during their press conference face-off.

Despite seemingly having moved past the animosity, it appears the Chechen is not over the loss he suffered at the hands of his ex-nemesis at UFC 328. He struck out on X against the judging in the main event before quickly deleting the post. The 32-year-old had earlier called out the middleweight champion to a rematch in multiple social media posts.

All judges are Americans, the organization is American, the opponent is American, and one is Chechen. It’s a close fight. Who do you think will win?

Khamzat Chimaev via X

In a separate post that was also deleted, Khamzat Chimaev once again called for another shot at Strickland. ‘Borz’ then accused his former opponent of ducking him and trying to run away.

No excuses, I just wanna [expletive] him up. This [expletive] trying to run away.

Khamzat Chimaev via X

A rematch against the two-time middleweight champion seems unlikely for the Chechen. UFC CEO Dana White had earlier dispelled the possibility of a rematch by revealing that the former champion wanted to move up to light heavyweight.

Nonetheless, this is not the first time someone from Chimaev’s camp has alleged that the decision in Newark was dubious. Many factors have been attributed to Strickland ending the 32-year-old’s undefeated run in MMA, including his conditioning. However, a former UFC champion recently debunked the notion of Borz having poor cardio.

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TJ Dillashaw says people are being ignorant about why Khamzat Chimaev lost at UFC 328

Following Khamzat Chimaev’s loss in Newark, Aljamain Sterling claimed that the Chechen had made a blunder in his training camp. The No. 4-ranked UFC featherweight alleged that not doing MMA-specific conditioning work had cost him the belt against Strickland.

This came in response to a video by Adam Lusby, a popular strength-and-conditioning coach among professional boxers and UFC fighters, who had a take similar to what Sterling said.

TJ Dillashaw, Khamzat Chimaev
TJ Dillashaw reveals reason for Khamzat Chimaev’s loss [via MMA Fighting and Reddit]

However, former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw disagrees with his former rival and Lusby. He accused anyone pushing the narrative of Chimaev having poor cardio of being clueless in a video on Tim Welch‘s YouTube channel. In it, the retired bantamweight also revealed why the former middleweight champion didn’t look like his usual self at UFC 328.

People don’t know what the hell they’re talking about…What it comes down to is [that] a bad weight cut can destroy 12 weeks’ worth of work completely. And we all know he had a bad weight cut. The weight was not coming off of him.

TJ Dillashaw via Tim Welch’s YouTube channel

Dillashaw also defended Khamzat Chimaev’s strength-and-conditioning coach, Sam Calavitta, against criticism. ‘Borz’ had begun working with him earlier in preparation for his first title defense. The former Team Alpha Male member then explained the real reason behind the Chechen’s loss of his undefeated record in the fight against Strickland.

[Khamzat Chimaev] did not stick to his game plan. He didn’t. It’s an unfortunate situation, but they want to point blame when, in all honesty, Sam Calavitta is the one that actually made me pull back, and I know he’s making these other guys pull back if they listen.

TJ Dillashaw via Tim Welch’s YouTube channel

The two-time bantamweight champion’s comments about Chimaev’s weight cut line up with accounts from his teammates. It appears the former champion had a brutal weight cut for his first title defense, which led to his poor conditioning which slowly got better as the fight went on. Meanwhile, there are others in the MMA community that disagrees with these reasonings.

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