Sean Strickland is “probably the toughest test for Khamzat” Chimaev, according to Luke Rockhold | BJPenn.com

Sean Strickland is the toughest challenge Khamzat Chimaev could face during his tenure as UFC middleweight champion. This sentiment was expressed by a former 185-pound titleholder within the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Luke Rockhold was the fighter in question and he expressed this thought during a recent appearance on the Jaxxon podcast.

Rockhold detailed his thoughts on a potential title fight between Chimaev and Strickland, saying:

“I hate to say it, but Strickland should win a fight, and he’s probably the toughest test for Khamzat. Strickland is annoyingly hard to contain. He’s not very good on the ground, but he can get up, and that’s the biggest thing with Khamzat: he can’t stop him. Khamzat has to be comfortable. If he can’t stop a guy, it can be tough.” [Training together] plays a role in their minds.”

Sean Strickland echoes the same sentiments regarding his chances against Khamzat Chimaev

Sean Strickland also likes his chances in a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, but as Rockhold said, Strickland also understands that he needs to get back to winning ways to secure such a prizefight. Strickland and Chimaev have a well-documented training history with each other, with the two having residual bad blood from their time together in the gym.

Strickland fell short in a middleweight title bid against Dricus du Plessis in February, with Chimaev capturing that title from DDP in August. Sean Strickland has named Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez as someone he would like to fight next as he has a wave of momentum that could earn the former a title shot if he wins over the latter.

Strickland also playfully called American Chimaev ‘Fluffy’ and thinks securing a win over someone like Hernandez would be a good indicator of how Strickland would fare against Chimaev. Strickland called out the reigning UFC champion and spoke about his own intentions to become a two-time 185-pound titleholder. [via MMA Weekly],

“I want to fight Chimaev. And you know, a lot of it feels like a personal vendetta because I’m the only f**king one who beats Chimaev. Chimaev knows this. His camp knows this. Everybody f**king knows this, dude. I’m the only one who f**king beats you. I’ve wrestled all the guys he’s going to fight and he’s just going to f**king steamroll them.”