Khamzat Chimaev Hoping ‘Boring’ Insults Goes Away After Finishing Sean Strickland at UFC 328

Khamzat Chimaev dominating Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 to win the middleweight title last year divided the MMA fanbase. Some were shocked by how easily the Chechen fighter manhandled the South African. However, a vocal chunk of fans criticized ‘Borz’, labelling his control time-heavy approach to the fight as “boring.” However, the middleweight champion knows how to remedy the situation.

Chimaev faces off against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 for his first defense of the middleweight belt. Their rivalry has grown to become one of the most heated feuds in recent history. But as their fight approaches, Borz seems to be bothered by fans calling his fights “boring.”

He believes a finish over his rival will make the fans’ accusations of him being boring. The middleweight champion recently made this known during an interview with The Mac Life at Santo Studio.

For sure, I need to finish him. Otherwise, people start to call me boring. Boring fight.

Khamzat Chimaev via The Mac Life

Chimaev’s dominant win over Du Plessis featured over 21 minutes of control time from the Chechen. ‘Stillknocks’ simply had no answer for Chimaev’s grappling as Chimaev landed over 500 strikes, most of them on the ground. But that is where the criticism of the middleweight champion’s performance arises.

Only 25 of Chimaev’s ground strikes were deemed “significant” enough. Moreover, despite getting almost completely shutout, Dricus Du Plessis actually had 1 submission attempt to none from ‘Borz’. All these factors culminated in some fans and even Du Plessis himself calling the eventual unanimous decision boring despite Khamzat’s impressive display of positional grappling.

Contrary to this narrative, though, Khamzat Chimaev actually has gone the distance 3 times in his career. All of his other fights have ended in the first or second round, split evenly with 6 knockouts and 6 submissions. In fact, his first decision win in the UFC came against Gilbert Burns in a fight that has received Hall of Fame shouts.

But as far as entertainment goes, Khamzat Chimaev is actually looking beyond MMA itself. The middleweight champion just suggested a marquee crossover to boxing and he even has an opponent in mind.

Khamzat Chimaev pitches a Conor McGregor boxing match

Conor McGregor started the trend of MMA fighters crossing over into boxing when he fought Floyd Mayweather. Since then, several fighters like Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and many more have crossed over into boxing. Now, it seems Khamzat Chimaev wants a piece of that pie.

Chimaev isn’t considering switching to boxing permanently, though. He plans to remain with the UFC for as long as possible. However, the undefeated Chechen revealed at a recent media scrum that he remains open to boxing under the Zuffa banner. Surprisingly, he picked former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

Khamzat Chimaev just called out Conor McGregor to fight on Zuffa Boxing 😅

“Just box. 12 rounds. If Conor wants to accept that, would be nice. He talks better than Sean Strickland, so it will be fun.”

(via @TvKyno) pic.twitter.com/C1fQba99wn

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 1, 2026

Chimaev gave the former UFC double champion credit as one of the best boxers in the UFC. But he also highlighted that fighting McGregor would net him a good payday as well, claiming the Irishman “talks better than Sean Strickland.” Given the escalation of their feud, this comment probably won’t go down well with ‘Tarzan’. Even so, Conor McGregor’s ability to promote a fight is simply undeniable.

In fact, it was the results of McGregor’s promotional abilities that motivated ‘Borz’ to fight. The 32-year-old revealed that he was inspired to become an MMA fighter after learning how much McGregor made for his knockout over Jose Aldo.

Ultimately, a boxing match with Conor McGregor, who hasn’t actively competed in any sport since 2021, is purely hypothetical. However, Khamzat Chimaev can put the “boring” allegations behind him with an emphatic finish over Sean Strickland at FC 328 like he plans to.

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