Daniel Cormier: UFC Houston version of Sean Strickland a threat to Khamzat Chimaev

Daniel Cormier is impressed with the version of Sean Strickland that showed up at UFC Houston on Saturday. Strickland was a huge underdog in his middleweight headliner against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston on Saturday. However, Strickland showed his signature defensive, striking masterclass from the opening bell, never allowing “Fluffy” to find his rhythm. Strickland folded Hernandez with a knee to the abdomen in the third round and followed with a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to intervene and stop the fight.

Cormier thinks the version of Strickland that defeated Hernandez could also pose a serious threat to champion Khamzat Chimaev. “DC” recalls that a similar version of Strickland shocked the world by dethroning Israel Adesanya and winning the middleweight title in 2023. Strickland lost his title to Dricus Du Plessis in his first defense and failed to regain it in their rematch. However, Cormier believes Strickland wasn’t completely locked in against Du Plessis.

A formidable test

“If that guy who showed up tonight shows up in there [Khamzat]
fight, it would be a much tougher fight for the great Khamzat Chimaev,” Cormier said on YouTube. “Because even Israel Adesanya, at the height of his power, struggled against that version of Sean Strickland. In the Dricus Du Plessis fight, it didn’t seem like Sean was locked in at all; he seemed a little confused.”While Strickland (30-7) and Chimaev (15-0) have trained together in the past, they now trade barbs. Chimaev claims Strickland is hostile towards him after he was choked during training. Meanwhile, Strickland brushes it off as a positional sparring incident and claims he made Chimaev stop training.