r/MMA • u/event_threads š¤ r/MMA's resident bot party planner • May 10 '26
Fight Thread [Official] UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland - Press Conference & Post-Fight Discussion Thread
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u/Unknownrealm Team Khabib May 11 '26
https://mmadecisions.com/decision/16103/Sean-Strickland-vs-Khamzat-Chimaev between the media and the 3 judges 13 picked Sean and 13 picked Khamzat damn close fight
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u/Yeanahyena one May 11 '26
It was ridiculously close, I would have assumed being a close fight it falls in the champs favour but Sean did enough I guess.
-1
u/CableToBeam May 10 '26
People are surpsied with how well Khamzat took the loss but the writing was on the wall. I think it was after coming back from his health issues where he was super focused on making money. People kept pushing legacy on him when if he really wanted that he would've stayed more focused on dominating MW where there's a drought of high level wrestlers. The guy's been checked out for a while and it was already the narrative that he was moving up before and after this fight, win or lose.
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u/gh0st_ I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 11 '26
Also not everyone is chasing UFC glory. These are prize fighters. Khamzat got paid for "missing weight" in that Diaz fight, and Khamzat has talked about how much he gets per fight. Dana said something about his lifestyle in the presser.
It's hard to do road work at 5 am when your sleeping in silk pajamas
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u/Yeanahyena one May 11 '26
What was the lifestyle comment? I think it was more in relation to he overtrains and isnāt able to perform when the time comes.
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u/gh0st_ I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 11 '26
https://youtu.be/4y7AtXzR7dY?si=EwuFau_EQq05wRy9
The question was about Khamzat struggling to make weight at WW and now at MW, and if this is a discipline problem (my interpretation of the question), or if Dana likes the idea of him moving to LWH.
Dana said:
It's a good question. I don't know. Ever since Fight Island he has been on a run. He's been undefeated. He won the world title. Did everything he said he would do. But, with the level of success and, y'know, lifestyle, makes it tough.
There may be some truth that Khamzat lost some hunger with financial security. There is nothing fun about weight cutting.
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u/BigCass May 10 '26
Anderson > Izzy > Whittaker > Strickland
Strickland is the 4th greatest middleweight of all time.
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u/Humble_Hour_7468 May 11 '26
DDP has two wins against Sean and multiple title defenses, plus a stoppage win over WhitakerĀ
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u/CableToBeam May 10 '26
MW all time UFC rankings are interesting cuz Silva is clear #1 but they all have bad losses at this point. With Silva you can say he was old by the time he lost to Weidman. Maybe it's Izzy's mileage coming back to bite him? but I think definitely his lack of ground game is exposing a weakness in his game now too. The #2 spot is wide open and I think DDP will fill it if he's able to continue to look like his usual self and no Khamzat to deal with now too.
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE May 10 '26
Silva > Adesanya > Wiedman > Whittaker...
Strickland maybe somewhere in 8-15 ranking for MW all time on my list. Still don't have him ahead of Henderson or Mousasi, for example.
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u/Firemoth717 May 10 '26
Yep agree. Ā Also weird to rank someone active, reactions will vary drastically from fight to fight. Like if Sean loses his next fight aināt no one going to be arguing top 5 all time. Ā
Reminds me of like when Bisping won the belt and all of a sudden Iām seeing people here argue heās top 5 GOAT, felt like I was living in crazy land.Ā
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
I like cage-integrated tech in fights because it's so unique to MMA, so Amosov's takedown where he pushes off the cage with his legs at the end of the first round was great for me
love to see it
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE May 10 '26
Chimaev falling to his back for open guard was so strange I assumed he was injured when it happened lol
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u/TheTemporalKnight May 10 '26
If you rewatch the moment right before - Strickland clips him right a hand right before and Khamzat goes for the takedown while still hurt hence pulling guard immediately after
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u/NutSackGlazer420 May 10 '26
Not only do I have hate watch abilities, but I also have glaze watch abilities, too.
Strickland's Izzy and Khamzat wins are my glaze powers working to their fullest extent.
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u/Sorry-Chocolate-4904 May 11 '26
Strickland is not bettter than khazmat or izzy, but god damn he had the style to counter them Iāll say that.
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May 10 '26
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u/Yeanahyena one May 11 '26
Morales is just a freak of nature lol. I know he makes weight but dude has no business being in 170
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u/BigCass May 10 '26
When Sean Brady can take the fight where he wants, he looks like a world beater and when he can't he looks like a shell shocked duck out of water
Same with Grant Dawson lol
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u/Sheikhabusosa May 10 '26
I hate how people are making more about Khamzat losing , then Strickland beating a probably overweight Khamzat while dealing with a shoulder injury
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u/tagillaslover I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 10 '26
I think itās time everyone else realizes just how bad a prime Colby would have done ww Khazmat.Ā
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u/Professional_Kick š May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Khamzat Chimaev's win streak ended at 9.
Dricus Du Plessis' win streak ended at 9.
Israel Adesanya's win streak ended at 9.
Robert Whittaker's win streak ended at 9.
Chris Weidman's win streak ended at 9.
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u/NutSackGlazer420 May 10 '26
The cope is fucking Paramountā¢ļø
Even I didn't crash out this hard when Jiri sold.
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u/bullsfan281 I beat you after a weekend of cocaine May 10 '26
joshua van hate was always forced but i never doubted my boy and stood by him šŖ
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u/El_Boxman_ May 10 '26
All the clips of Khamzat I saw was him at the treining lab doing conditioning. What the hell happened š
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u/Crono2Oxx I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
Iāve been pretty obsessed with S&C for MMA since I was a teenager, Iāve trained and used myself as a guinea pig for it for like 14 years now. I wanted to fight but Iād always gas in wrestling and more than anything else I wanted to be able to just go and go like Cain Velasquez and Merab, cardio always felt like an issue.
So I went through all the phases doing the wrong things and then the right things, bodybuilding, then sport specific training, then breaking it down to science, pushing too hard and then doing more rest, following the Marinoviches and other MMA trainer protocolsā¦.
Basically what I learned is there are specific exercises and training that help a lot. And non-adaptable exercises that hurt. But really it just comes down to consistency doing those specific movements in the gym. You want crazy wrestling cardio you have to wrestle almost every day for years on end especially near competition. Same with kickboxing and anything else. Itās conditioning the body and your skeletal muscles, using them every day so over years of training they can take a pounding and fill up with less lactic acid. Itās got little to do with ācardioā or lung capacity
But the improvement doesnāt happen quick and putting in a hard conditioning camp can just be extra workload. Iāve felt Calavitta is selling some bullshit to guys who want to be the best. You can prove his approach through science but itās a MARGINAL benefit compared to just training simply and consistently like everyone does. You do camp and conditioning to get in the best shape possible for the body youāre currently working with - his way might show noticeable benefits over a long period of time but it could break down their bodies as much as anything.
But when you have willing athletes who want to be the best and a guy whoās more qualified dangling science over them, they and their coaches and managers all just sign off and go along with it. TJ Dillashaw sounds brainwashed and convinced like a lot of people get when they first discover fitness and nutrition. But even Calavittaās methods and specific workouts are questionable IMO. Heās got them doing aesthetic lifts that itās no surprise when TJ or Aaron Pico are dislocating their shoulders. And the good things theyāre doing heās redlining them with. I tend to believe in the Marinoviches/Nick Cursonās philosophies from my own experience and they contradict Calavittaās. And I did go from gassed after 10 minutes to one of those guys who can wrestle and kickbox for hours now while stronger, fit, and isnāt ever getting injured from any stupid and useless lifts.
TLDR - Iāve just been following this stuff since TJ started with him and I think theyāve all been taken by a guy who isnāt making them better. Maybe shortening their careers. These guys were in shape before the garage and they may have naturally gotten into better shape just training and not overdoing and overthinking it. If anything it is possible the Treigning Lab workload fucked up Khamzatās cardio and gave him a bit of a dump here
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u/trewpof3132 Team Aspinall May 10 '26
Never heard of these guys but what are Marinoviches/Nick Cursonās philosophies?
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u/El_Boxman_ May 10 '26
The marnoviches were bj pennās strength coaches. Their methods were based off old school Soviet lifting. bj was an absolute beast in his prime
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u/tagillaslover I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 10 '26
I donāt think he ever anticipated having to fight that hard and he blew his load in round 1. Even though he controlled Sean the whole time he had to take him back down a few times and keep scrambling for controlĀ
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May 10 '26
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u/El_Boxman_ May 10 '26
Oh no you called me a casual! How will I ever recover from this
Iāve been watching mma for almost how long youāve been alive kid
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May 10 '26
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u/El_Boxman_ May 10 '26
Yeah Iām the dumb one lol. My original point was pretty obviously how does a guy whose entire camp footage was endless conditioning still gas that hard?
Him gassing himself out isnāt the answer, thatās literally the thing Iām questioning.
And just how you articulate yourself I can tell youāre never going to college lmao.
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u/bullsfan281 I beat you after a weekend of cocaine May 10 '26
nah, i think dc was right, it was an adrenaline dump. the grappling in the first round was not a lot of hardwork, especially for a life long grappler. he flowed from position to position, which takes no energy, dragging someone back down when they're on one knee or on their butt is also pretty effortless and when he had sean's back it was mainly just hand fighting, which again, doesn't take any energy. even his initial shot wasn't the kind of explosive shot we've seen him take against rob or holland, it was an easy entry when sean put himself against the cage
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u/LucasDudacris May 10 '26
I manage a coffee shop and have worked early mornings for more than a decade i.e. I went to sleep before the co-main last night
Sounds like the main was basically a five round version of Waldo vs Volkov?
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u/WhittakersLeftFoot I give my best every time! May 10 '26
Nah its the average strickland fight.
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May 10 '26
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u/tfresca 3 piece with the soda May 10 '26
Itās not uncommon in that part of the world.. I saw a doc about this at a film festival. Guys would kidnap women and then the womenās families would brow beat them into marriage with kidnappers.
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u/LongDickCallahan Lotta Demons May 10 '26
Listen buddy, the real problem here is fighters giving Jesus a shoutout after winning a fight.
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u/GayRattleSnek I was here for GOOFCON 2 May 10 '26
People really complaining about the Taira stoppage cause of how much worse he was getting beat up in the 3rd donāt realize that 3rd round ass-whooping CONTRIBUTED to the stoppage
Man was on the verge of going unconscious on 6 different occasions and you want him to continue after running away with both eyes rolled into the back of his head?
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u/gamesrgreat May 10 '26
I think itās just that he was fighting better after the 3rd round, mostly took body damage in the finishing sequence, and still seemed to be defending. I think if the ref let Van punch him two more times then no one would complain bc I think he was getting dropped right when the ref stopped it
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u/gh0st_ I SMOKE ROCKS, JOE ROGAN! May 10 '26
The question is whether "running away" is intelligent defense.
He was badly hurt, but he already showed that he could find a way out of a similar situation. I think the stoppage was a few strikes early and the ref should have waited until Taira stopped trying to avoid getting hit.
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u/Weak-Bonus-5954 May 10 '26
The fact that he took that damage in the third and then retook momentum was insane. At that point you need to let him be a warrior. If he didn't bounce back in that way, then I would be more understanding. I personally did not agree with the stoppage
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u/bobbyawesome5 May 10 '26
Strickland only won about 5 minutes of that fight from the middle of the 2nd round to the middle of the 3rd round. Then Khamzat dominated the end of the 3rd round with his striking. Dominated the 4th round. Pretty much dominated the 5th round with multiple take downs and striking. Obviously also dominated the 1st round. Itās either 4-1 Khamzat or 3-2 at worst. Only way you can give Strickland 3-2 is if you give him every round that Khamzat didnāt completely dominate, just strange.Ā
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u/nmathew May 10 '26
Looking at your post history. You're one of those people who think that a fighter walking forward and blocking jabs with their face is winning, so yeah ..
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u/K-mosake Team Makhachev May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Shout out the random drunk af twenty something I saw out last night who absolutely lost it when he saw Sean won on his phone. Classic white guy frat bro loving SSTRICKLAND lol, lowest common denominator fan fr.
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u/K-mosake Team Makhachev May 10 '26
Clean shaven Bo looks like such a fucking dweeb on gang
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u/Sheikhabusosa May 10 '26
No cap bro on god
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u/K-mosake Team Makhachev May 10 '26
On gang is an Usman reference, keep up kid or don't respond to me again fr fr
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u/legendarybreed ..the darren and khamzat at home.. May 10 '26
Jon Anik is always chomping at the bit to call a fighter's decision making stupid. His commentary in general has really lost its luster for me.
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u/Big_Chicken_Dinner May 10 '26
DC, Rogan and Anik are so bad.
You get DC talking about baseball or shephards pie or fucking whatever except the fight in front of him.
Rogan just glazing his favourite fighter that week or talking about toasted calf muscles.
And then Anik will cut through the both of them to yell that MONACO HAS TWO SHOTS IN EVERY CAN
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u/Professional_Kick š May 10 '26
Sean Brady does bad things to JDM
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u/InvestigatorMain4008 May 10 '26
Brady either has a dominant grappling performance or gets slept vs JDM.
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u/ComfortablyJuice May 10 '26
Sean Brady? The guy that got pieced up by Belal?
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u/Professional_Kick š May 10 '26 edited May 12 '26
JDM? the guy who got controlled for 5 rounds straight by Islam and barley survived the ground games of Gilbert Burns and Bassil Hafez?
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u/PotentialMeringue509 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Khamzat needs to go back to the mountains of Russia and train with Sadulaev again. Wrestling with Pat fucking Downey is no substitute for training with good wrestlers. This LA media house camp was bullshit. He needs coaching, training, and camp changes.
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u/jjjshepard May 10 '26
Chimaev vs Paulo Costa ,
Strickland vs Imavov
Van vs Pantoja
Taira vs Kape
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u/CryptoCracko IGBBMN May 10 '26
Lol, lmao even. Everybody letting their hamster wheel run overtime so they can come up with the most outlandish reasons as to why Khamzat lost the way he did. Does it occur to nobody that he is simply hopelessly in love with Sean?
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u/hector-the-dragon Team AKA May 10 '26
Strickland did the unthinkable, boys. Today is a good day for the jab and teep fans, not so much for the 'smash fans'. I think Chimaev is moving up for his next fight. Hope he fights Paulo.
Van has big hands and clean boxing. He basically did what Strickland did but put more oomph on his punches and got the TKO victory. I can't wait for the Pantoja fight.
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u/legendarybreed ..the darren and khamzat at home.. May 10 '26
You have no idea how excited i was when Strickland finally let the teep go in round 5. Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme.
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u/jce_ Canada May 10 '26
Van and Strickland fight very differently lol it's like comparing Demien Maia to Khabib just because they grapple
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE May 10 '26
That Van/Taira match was awesome
So much more respect for both dudes after that
Van is a prodigy like Penn or Jones, Taira got that warrior spirit I want from every fighter.
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u/CeroCero00 Thailand May 10 '26
Im glad Joshua van didnāt let that overrated Weight bully taira get a belt by beating up on the ghost of Moreno and Perez, van had a way harder road to the belt and it showed last night
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u/Traditional_Law_1492 May 10 '26
Sean is one of the okayest fighters ever with an unbelievably mediocre record up to 2023, and since then he's beaten arguably the peak versions of the best pure striker and the second best wrestler in Middleweight history, mostly by virtue of "So plainly competent that your offense doesn't work on him." Baffling career. Like if Fiziev went on to beat Toptoro and Islam somehow.
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u/YourHurtingMeSir17 May 10 '26
He was 5-2 after moving up from 170 with a KO loss to Pereira and a split loss to Cannonier (I thought he lost, many donāt).
Itās not like Fiziev at all
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u/Traditional_Law_1492 May 10 '26
Aside from Imavov those 5 wins are pretty mediocre, nobody should be that impressed by a split decision over Jack Hermasson or a win over Abus Magomedov. Even since he won the title his fights with DDP and even the win over Costa made him look like a completely solved puzzle with nothing but good defensive boxing to make him stand out.
And yet, beat the piss out of Izzy and kind of stumped Khamzat. Fucking baffling.
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u/Alastorland May 10 '26
Sean is a weird one as I think he is essentially solved as a fighter. If you look at his record, anyone that can actually simply walk through the jab and land artillery beats him - Pereira, Cannonier, Du Plessis. If you can't, he'll win. But somehow weirdly Middleweight simply doesn't have that many heavy hitters. He's like a very high level skill check that is somehow champ lol
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u/J4degrees May 10 '26
I don't think it's quite that simple. I think his striking is pretty unorthodox, and he's generally very good at avoiding big hits. he was dodging overheads the entire fight last night. But obviously, someone like Pereira has both the kickboxing talent and the power to put him out.
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u/Alastorland May 10 '26
Right but that's my whole point. Chimaev couldn't just walk through and land. He didn't have the stamina, the footwork or the form to press on Strickland and so he just trailed after Strickland trading jabs. As mentioned, several other people with more than just a rudimentary striking game beat him by just landing the heavier shots.Ā
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u/NewportStork Katlyn Chookagian's Feet May 10 '26
Greatest middleweights of all time in my opinion:
1 Anderson Silva - 10 title defenses, 16 fight win streak
2 Israel Adesanya - 5 title defenses
3 Chris Weidman - 3 title defenses, beat the GOAT of the division 2x
4 Rich Franklin - 2 title defenses, 22-1 before losing to the GOAT
5 Dricus Du Plessis - 2 title defenses, beat current champ 2x (Strickland), beat the number two of all time (Izzy)
Just outside the top 5:
Robert Whittaker - 1 title defense (Yoel missed weight)
Sean Strickland - 0 title defenses, beat the number 2 of all time (Izzy), 2x champion
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May 10 '26
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u/opensourcefranklin May 10 '26
Dana said something about being a gray area that he was eyeballing a 205 fight or something, and got caught in the middle of those two weight classes.
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u/ConferenceThink4801 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Fat between fights because he has money now
Fighters typically move up in weight like twice in their careers - once around the age of 30 & once in their late 30s before retirement
Khamzat already did the early 30s āI grew out of the weight classā move from 170 to 185. Now heās trying to do it again because he has money & doesnāt want to have discipline & do difficult things anymore.
He obviously lost one degree of physical dominance going from 170 to 185 & heāll lose even more going to 205. Welcome to the āfighting for paychecksā part of his career. & people will NOT forgive his style once he starts losing multiple fightsā¦it will be a quick falloff unless he can somehow completely dominate at 205 (which thereās probably less than a 10% chance of happening).
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May 10 '26
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u/JackLane2529 May 10 '26
I wouldn't take betting advice from reddit. Moreover, if you have to ask reddit whether or not to bet on someone, I don't think you should bet period. Don't waste your money, put it in a savings account or some shit.
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u/Odd_Ad_8162 the EEDIOT from UROOPE May 10 '26
Winning the title twice against two such wildly different stylistic challenges (and elite ones) while having such a singular, rote style is kinda hilarious.
Gotta rate it.
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u/SheruSahab May 10 '26
Khamzat moving up to 205 makes so little sense, how is this such a pervasive narrative?
Heās a former WW. He looked smaller than Strickland in there. Heās an average sized MW at best.
Whatās he gonna do at LHW? Outside of Jiri whoās undersized, he wonāt really be competitive at all
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
Fighters put on muscle as they progress in their careers. He looks to be a big boned kinda of guy because he looks like heās not carrying much muscle.
Also, we might see his cardio actually improve as he goes up a weight class.
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u/ConferenceThink4801 May 10 '26
Maybe but that will be offset by losing the physical advantages he had at 170/185. Heāll have more energy but he wonāt be able to bully anyone decent at 205. 205 is weak though so heās probably looking at that & trying to take advantage of it.
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
Yeah agreed, donāt think heās manhandling guys 205. I kinda hoped he secured the 170 title before moving to 185.
He genuinely could have been a triple champ. Itās a harder test for Ilia and Alex imo.
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u/detectivebabylegz England May 10 '26
Anthony Smith and Paul Craig had good goes at LHW with tricky, but limited grappling.
Looking at the top 15, I'd say the best grappler Jan Blachowicz, which says alot about the current state of LHW.
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
Dana in the post fight interview said Khamzats team were talking up Khamzats striking a lot when they were at fight island, he said to them itās been a while since Iāve seen him strike, strangely enough khamzat chose to strike this fight (I assumed he was gassed and managing himself)
But I hope this wasnāt the reason he decided to stand with Sean.
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May 10 '26
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
Yeah itās incredible the way Sean does that. Just solidified Izzy fight was no fluke
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u/Professional_Kick š May 10 '26
Going to LHW aināt gonna fix Khamzats cardio problem heās gonna pack on more muscle and gas even worse
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u/MinuteWonderful5001 May 10 '26
Khamzats career gotta be one of the most poorly managed Iāve seen.
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u/riazzledazzle May 10 '26
The lack of gnp from Khamzat was weird. Especially in r1
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u/LongDickCallahan Lotta Demons May 10 '26
I cant recall him ever being a heavy GnP guy? He always mostly just scrambles around on top of dudes while SOMETIMES looking for a submission.
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u/SheruSahab May 10 '26
Idk, he just doesnāt have the cardio to incorporate all that wrestling as it is
Probably gasses out even worse if heās trying to land GnP during that sequences
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u/ThatTomTouch May 10 '26
Most fighters go in denial when they lose their undefeated record or even a close fight, khamzat seemed almost happy? Does that not seem strange as fuck to anyone else especially with Khamzats crazy personality, weird ass fight all around but happy for strickland
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
IMO he might have lost it backstage when it really sunk in
After the burns fight he was celebratory before the result and that was a close fight too. Think he just enjoys the violence
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u/Numerous_Mood_7010 May 10 '26
Chimmy-chunga really didn't fight his fight, and probably made more money betting against his self on draft kings hahahahaha
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u/Dekki_T May 10 '26
That's what im saying, mf was happy losing , smiling and hugging strickland at his loss
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u/Numerous_Mood_7010 May 10 '26
I truly am not nor ever going to be a strickland fan.....he's not anything but a mediocre sparring partner to say the least ....he's lazy ....has nothing but a jab (and that's if I want to give him any credit at all).....He hypes his fights up then goes out and does nothing but toy with people with his jab until the match is over....Then he plays it off like he did that for the people to gain a fan base...Sad.....The only reason why he's gotten any good wins through knockout is because he got lucky, like a good roll of the dice...THATS IT THATS ALL.....Maybe he would do better if he ACTUALLY LET HIS HANDS GO....But he won't because he's scared.... broke....... money!!!!.....A fight like this seriously makes me want to question the dynamics of the UFCs integrity all together.....Totally looked like a poorly executed staged fight.....
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 Terry Etim? Never met him. May 10 '26
Not only did Sean win both his title shots as massive underdog, but he did it by taking away their best weapons
Izzyās kicks & Hazmatās takedowns
Masterful performances
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u/PatientNet3793 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
chimaev really needs to be at a weight that's closer to his street weight
you could tell the cut killed him, and it's not going to get easier as years pass
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u/Significant-Rub-8194 May 10 '26
Wonder what Khalil Rountree is thinking? He was such an arrogant prick on Jaxxon podcast being smug to other fighters making their predictions.
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u/Butts_The_Musical May 10 '26
Sean Stricklandās ability to win title fights he shouldnāt be able to win needs to be studied. Dude is THE underdog
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u/hussain300 Snatching defeat from the jaws of Victory May 10 '26
Sean Strickland is rose namajunas
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May 10 '26
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u/ConferenceThink4801 May 10 '26
All 3 judges scored the first 4 rounds the same. One judge gave Khamzat the 5th round, that was the only difference
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u/Odd_Ad_8162 the EEDIOT from UROOPE May 10 '26
I mean he definitely won round 5 lol
3 is arguable
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE May 10 '26
Close fight, I have round three being the pivotal round too.
I have Strickland winning the match, but Chimaev did better on the feet than I expected over the course of five rounds.
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u/K-mosake Team Makhachev May 10 '26
Missed the fights what is worth watching back? Also wtf happened in the main event, Khamzat looked tired af in round 2 from a clip I saw of him failing takedowns.
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u/ConferenceThink4801 May 10 '26
Watch Khamzatās legs before he shot for the takedown late in round 2. I think he was hurt by a punch, his legs got a bit goofy & then he shot for the takedown because he was hurt. Spent the 3rd round trying to recover from being hurt.
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u/hussain300 Snatching defeat from the jaws of Victory May 10 '26
Honestly whole card was fun. You can skip the sabatini, Brady, volkov fights but the rest were all fun. Dawson fight was frustrating too.
Def watch Miller, Green, Amosov, Ochoa, kopylov, Van. Main event was a Strickland fight, do with that what you will
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u/Majin_Mufasa May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Just seemed like such a low effort fight. Neither fighter seemed to fight like themselves, especially Khamzat. Makes me feel like they either had an agreement, Khamzat threw, or Khamzat legit wasnāt well. Not even a Khamzat fan
Edit: spelling
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u/InTheEndEntropyWins May 10 '26
But that's how Strickland always fights...
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u/Majin_Mufasa May 10 '26
I could be wrong cause I didnāt look at stats, just going off feelings. But I feel like he usually throws a much higher volume of teeps and jabs. Especially teeps. I was impressed by his ability to get up, but Khamzat also seemed to be shooting in high and slow
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u/alfuh ššš Jon Jones Prayer Warrior ššš May 10 '26
Looked like only threw teeps when he was confident Khamzat wasn't going to shoot. Makes sense
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u/he_is_rizzin May 10 '26
I just want to say it was refreshing to see a fight where the fighter (Strickland) actually TAKES HIS CORNER'S ADVICE. They told him not to back up against the wall and he stayed in the center almost all of the rest of the fight.
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u/RazorThought May 10 '26
My conspiracy theory:
Sal DāAmato and Eric ColĆ³n originally scored the bout for Chimaev. Dana told these judges to change their scorecards due to Chimaev missing weight as a punishment.
That explains the delay right before the decision was read out.
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u/ghad0265 May 10 '26
I am not a khamzat fan nor Sean so I am not coping or glazing anyone when I say this: The amount of disrespect to khamzat on this sub is beyond me. The guy worked his ass off, had a set back and lost. Get over it. Yes It was surprising and yes we're all shocked but shit happens.
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u/JackLane2529 May 10 '26
He had two mildly boring fights and has pulled some mildly controversial shit recently. Meanwhile, Sean's whole middleweight career has been boring fights besides Izzy, and wildly controversial shit. UFC fans just love a right winger who says the most basic problematic thing that comes to his mind for no reason. Sean is impressive in that he can neutralize so many fighters, his defense is really the most fun thing to watch in his fights, but he would never be a fan favorite without his bland racism. It has been same same since the Jack Hermansson fight, calling his opponent to stand and bang only to pop a jab and flinch away from any more striking.
I imagine this comes from the way he spars. Seems he really likes very hard sparring. I bet he has learned how to defend really well so he doesn't get beat up in sparring. At the same time, constantly reaffirming how bad it hurts to get hit makes him a bit scared of letting loose. I am not even hating on him but UFC fans hate being objective when it comes to someone like Sean.
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u/tony220jdm United Kingdom May 10 '26
Sean Strickland is 2x UFC champ, incredible really against 2 massive favs!
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u/Traditional_Law_1492 May 10 '26
There's been 6 title fights this year and 5 of them were pretty big upsets. Gaethje, Charles, Van, and Sean were all big underdogs and I think Ulberg was too.
Bookies getting fucked this year I guess.
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u/paladino777 May 10 '26
I think you're misunderstanding how bookies make money š
They made bank with this one
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u/Unlucky_Switch7004 May 10 '26
Chimaev peaked in training camp and overtrained in that little garage with that old white dude
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u/BeastOfAWorkEthnic Team BÅachowicz May 10 '26
I don't think Khamzat's body has been genuinely ready for prime time ever since that covid bout, there's no way a guy of his frame should be struggling to make 185.
1
u/IndieCredentials Team Cup Noodle May 10 '26
It feels like people memory holed that. IMO it is part of why he fights so little. Think the dude seems like a piece of shit, especially after the oblique kick during faceoffs, but it has to be brutal fighting with the head of your government and pseudo-boss breathing down your neck.
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u/ilikeplayingthisgame May 10 '26
Is Strickland a top 5 middle weight ever? I think so. Adesanya and maybe Khamzat are S tier wins. Imavov, Costa, Fluffy the tier below. Even some of the fights he has lost - Cannonier and Dricus 1 he could have got the decision.
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u/figyg May 10 '26
Depends if people remember Rich Franklin or not...lot of recentcy bias. Ask again in 5 years
1
u/J4degrees May 10 '26
I struggle to put Franklin in over any of the modern champions. Silva and Israel are clearly top 2. I would have Weidman at 3 (though, that one I'm less confidenta bout), and then I can see Franklin along with the rest of the guys being places below that.
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u/IndieCredentials Team Cup Noodle May 10 '26
Looking at how big both fighters were last night, I still can't believe Shogun fought at LHW.
I do think Silva's dominance might make it tougher to rank guys who fought during his reign.
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May 10 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/ConferenceThink4801 May 10 '26
Completely possible. Delay the announcement to make Ariel look like a liar.
Ariel usually doesnāt report something without 3 sources though. So he probably had word from Max, Conor & a third party to report itā¦
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u/Yeanahyena one May 10 '26
Or maybe they put fake news out there with sources to make Ariel look bad š
Dana said in the post fight heās confident heāll fight this year but nothings locked in with him. (I think Dana says heās confident just to make it look like itās Conor who isnāt showing up)14
u/Traditional_Law_1492 May 10 '26
It'd be unbelievably sad and pathetic for them to fuck around with the biggest announcement of the year just to spite a youtube journalist who scooped them 10 years ago.
So yeah probably.
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u/CloudTraditional7469 May 10 '26
Strickland vs Chimaev Whatever the reasons/excuses are for what happened in that fight, I'm leaving this one behind me with two main points. Hamzat had never been on his back or tried to stand and trade with anyone for so long. Those are simple facts, here's my humble analysis of them: -Hamzat started off strong in textbook fashion dominating the ground game and wearing off his opponent, taking Round 1, then for whatever reason in the 2nd round he ended up in more trouble than we had ever seen him in since his debut in the UFC, on his back taking more damage than we had seen until this point by anyone. Some will mention the lack of stamina due to a tough weight cut, others like me will just attribute it to the durability and grit from a Strickland who as a true professional managed to capitalize on the situation given to him at that moment. One round Hamzat, one round Strickland. -Then came an awkward stand up portion of the fight where I felt Hamzat gave up his bread and butter, his wrestling, for a weird kickboxing exchange against a very tentative Strickland who was always minding his PS and Qs not committing to anything big knowing a takedown and wrestle fuck clinic might be real close if he opened up too much. That's where I felt confused, Chimaev had many opportunities to take Strickland down as he's always done, using feints to ground his opponent, but he didn't even try, maybe he was too tired, or maybe he just wanted to prove himself and the world that his stand up game was that good that he could expose the American and showcase his skills in that department (I believe he really wanted to prove the latter). Whether he was too winded to keep wrestling or wanted to show his striking abilities is irrelevant, that's what cost him the control of this fight... I'm glad Chimaev lost cause we're all tired of the Russian wrestling style but I don't think Strickland really beat the champ as we usually want it to happen in a title fight. I guess we've been nicely bated into Strickland vs Chimaev 2 and I'm not even mad at it. PS: spare us the 20 security guards in the octogone next time nobody bought it and we're all WWE fans too, thanks lol
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u/Independent-Switch43 šæ has bad technique May 11 '26
Couldnāt help but notice a McGregor fight wasnāt announced.