Now he faces Strickland in his first title defense after the always talkative middleweight demolished Anthony âFluffyâ Hernandez in his most recent outing.
Recognized as one of the most polarizing fighters on the entire UFC roster, Strickland suffered a pair of losses to du Plessis in title fights but got right back on track with his impressive performance against Hernandez in February.
Immediately afterwards, Strickland called for the title fight against Chimaev, and heâs getting his wish with the middleweights battling for the belt in May.
Also on the card, heavyweight contenders Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes-Acosta are locking horns in the co-main event. Currently ranked No. 2 in the heavyweight division, Volkov is coming off a split decision win over Jailton Almeida at UFC 321. Cortes-Acosta, meanwhile, is ranked No. 4 and riding a three-fight winning streak, most recently finishing Derrick Lewis in the second round at UFC 324 in January.
Also on the card, Sean Brady takes on Joaquin Buckley in a welterweight contest, former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz runs things back with Bogdan Guskov after their battle 323 ended in a majority draw, and King Green takes on veteran lightweight Jeremy Stephens in the main card opener.
Cumshot making his opponents go back to back on training camps while he can barely scrape one fight per calendar year together.
Strickland is gonna get smeshed.
Not halal.
SS barely had a fight and we all know he trains 365 anyway.
The leadup and press before this fight is going to be magical lol I love it.
That said, Cumshot is going to shoot on Strickland literally in the first 15 seconds.
I have a feeling itâll be DDP/Cumshot Vol. 2.
Though I hope Strickland gets him so angry pre-fight that he gets emotional and wants to stand and wang all fight.
While true, it still is a bitch move to be that inactive with the belt he just won and fight a dude who will be 10 weeks out from his last outing.
Barely enough time for Sean to do his sprawl training.
Strickland canât be worse on the ground than DDP.
I think Strickland is also tougher than DDP.
Youâre right, but itâll all hinge on Stricklandâs sprawl/TD defense and IF he can get back up once taken down.
Worth noting that DDP did take down Strickland in their fight like 6 times.
Either way, I just hope this fight is competitive and entertaining. I wouldnât mind seeing Strickland get the belt back again.
Agree. I hope itâs competitive and it would be really cool to see Strickland win.
Hard to bet against Khamzat. His wrestling and control are at another level than most anyone else. But Strickland is a tough dude and heâs damn good.
Regardless of how the fight goes the buildup should be highly entertaining.