Sean Strickland Reveals What’s Holding Up His Next Fight Against Nassourdine Imavov

The last time the middleweight championship was on the line, it resulted in a major upset as Khamzat Chimaev lost his belt to Sean Strickland. However, it wasn’t the first time ‘Tarzan’ had pulled off an upset, as he did the same when he fought Israel Adesanya and clinched the title. Although he failed to defend the belt in his first attempt, Strickland now has it back and is eyeing a title defense against Nassourdine Imavov. It seems that negotiations are progressing, and the fight is close to being booked.

Sean Strickland Says Nassourdine Imavov Fight Is Close to Being Locked

A fan on X asked the champion, Strickland, if he's really booked to fight Imavov, and he said they're still talking about pay. Once that's sorted, the fight is locked in. He also took a shot at Imavov, saying nobody cares about the fake Frenchman, but added that they're almost there. “We're discussing pay now. Once that detail is squared its locked in. The issue is no one cares about the fake Frenchman. We're almost there,” Strickland wrote.

For those who don’t know, Strickland has already fought Imavov in 2023, where he outclassed him and secured a unanimous decision win. Since then, the French fighter has not lost a single fight and is currently on a five-fight winning streak, with victories over fighters like Israel Adesanya, Caio Borralho, and others.

Meanwhile, after losing a UFC 328 fight, Chimaev wanted an immediate rematch against Strickland. He called out ‘Tarzan’ plenty of times, but the fight never came together. Now there's talk that Imavov could get the next shot at the middleweight belt.

Khamzat Chimaev Shows Support for Nassourdine Imavov

Chimaev spoke about it in a recent chat with Ushatayka and said he's not surprised that Imavov is getting a title shot. The former UFC middleweight champion pointed out how long the French fighter has been waiting and called him the contender already. ‘Borz’ said he'll take on whoever wins and that he isn't going anywhere until he's broken everybody at 185.

“There's no surprise. How long has Imavov been waiting now? He's already the contender. Whoever wins, we'll take him,” Chimaev said.

Chimaev once said he wanted to go up to light heavyweight, but that talk has gone quiet. Right now the Chechen-born fighter only cares about getting his middleweight belt back.