Khamzat Chimaev should not have fought Sean Strickland at UFC 328. He is realizing that in retrospect. His disadvantage was twofold. First: he was fighting on enemy territory. Newark, New Jersey, was not going to get behind the non-American champion in any way. Second: the weight cut. He was bulking up for a LHW bout against Jiri Prochazka before the UFC put the Strickland fight together. So, ‘Borz’ is trying to undo both those mistakes in one go.

The Chechen may have lost his undefeated record at UFC 328, but if anyone expected him to quietly move on from Sean Strickland, his team is making it very clear that is not happening. According to people close to ‘Borz, the former middleweight champion is now entirely focused on securing an instant rematch.

Speaking to ESPN after the loss, Khamzat Chimaev’s camp revealed that the rematch with ‘Tarzan’ is apparently the only fight he currently cares about.

“The rematch with Sean Strickland is the only fight that Khamzat wants,” they said. “He is obsessed with it. That’s the only fight he will accept right now.”

In fact, his brother Artur claimed that they had already requested a second fight for a rumored UFC event in Abu Dhabi this October.

“We’ve requested a rematch,” they continued. “There’s an event in Abu Dhabi in October, and we want to do it there. We want the second fight. Right now we have no other goals.”

The new information regarding Khamzat Chimaev‘s condition during fight week complicates the matter even further. According to his camp, the middleweight weight cut nearly collapsed entirely before the fight even happened. Artur claimed Chimaev’s body “shut down,” forcing the team to stop the process due to health concerns.

“There was a problem with the weight cut,” they added. “The question became whether to cancel the fight or take the risk. When there was 1.2 kg left, his body shut down.

“Oxygen deprivation. His body malfunctioned. Khamzat himself said he didn’t know how he’d fight in that condition.”

That probably explains why the fight turned into such a bizarre physical contest. Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling seemed dominant early on, but slowed as early as the second round, while Sean Strickland continued his volume with stinging jabs. Chimaev’s teammate, Khalil Rountree Jr., said he was not seeing the version of ‘Borz’ he was so used to seeing in training.

Then the split decision divided fans and critics, which seems to have fueled Khamzat Chimaev’s obsession with running it back right away. Even though UFC CEO Dana White said Chimaev directly told him he wanted to move up in weight afterward, his camp is now claiming the opposite.

According to them, the only thing left to do is get Sean Strickland back inside the cage. However, that’s going to be a herculean task, considering ‘Tarzan’ is not interested in an immediate rematch.

Sean Strickland shuts down Khamzat Chimaev’s rematch request

Sean Strickland doesn’t seem to be interested in immediately feeding that obsession no matter how many times ‘Borz’ asks for it. While Khamzat Chimaev and his team are working hard to book a second fight in Abu Dhabi later this year, the newly crowned middleweight champion appears to believe the challenger must first earn his way back.

Speaking backstage after UFC 328, ‘Tarzan’ shut down the idea of immediately running things back, no matter how close or controversial the fight turned out to be.

“Again, you know, as always, you go get a couple W’s, and I’ll see you again,” he said. “That’s just how it works. I truly believe ranking systems matter in the UFC. They should matter.

“Whenever they don’t matter, I think it belittles the sport. So go get a couple W’s, and I’ll see you again.”

Besides, Strickland claimed in February after his UFC Houston win that he was never fighting outside America again. His duology against Dricus Du Plessis happened in Canada (UFC 297) and then in Sydney (UFC 312). Strickland lost both, but he felt he was robbed by the Canadian judges in the first outing over political reasons.

Why would he go to Abu Dhabi then? The crowd would be extremely pro-Chimaev, and Strickland will have the heat and the exhaustion of travel to deal with, on top of the weight cut and time zone adjustments. Those factors come into play more than you think. Khabib Nurmagomedov once said that it helped him in his final fight against Justin Gaethje. So, there’s no way Strickland says yes to Abu Dhabi.

That stance could create a serious booking problem for the UFC, as Nassourdine Imavov is also waiting for a title opportunity after winning five consecutive fights, including a knockout over Israel Adesanya. Many fans believe Imavov deserved the opportunity before the UFC focused on the Sean Strickland-Khamzat Chimaev fight.

So, while Chimaev’s camp may be fixated with erasing the loss immediately, Strickland’s message was simple: the division does not revolve around one man, and if ‘Borz’ wants another shot at the belt, he may have to earn it again.