Sean Strickland is familiar with both middleweight title-fight headliners at UFC 319.
Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) defends his middleweight title when he takes on undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the Aug. 16 main event at United Center in Chicago (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) lost to Du Plessis twice in title fights – once by split decision at UFC 297 then in a more definitive decision at UFC 312. He also trained with Chimaev before at Xtreme Couture. With insight on both men, Strickland broke down the title fight.
“They can grapple,” Strickland said of Chimaev in an interview with Helen Yee. “Someone like me, I’ve been training these f*ckers for years. I usually could counter-wrestle and grapple them. So, I just don’t know if f*cking Dricus can be able to counter-wrestle him. But if he can, I think he wins, hands down. I sparred the f*cking Chechen wh*re. Hands down, I think Dricus wins. It’s just going to come down to are you going to be able to stop that and counter-wrestle him? You can. It’s not hard.”
As for what’s next for Strickland, the former champion has his sights set on settling his grudge match with ex-UFC welterweight champ Belal Muhammad. He admitted his interest in rematching Israel Adesanya is not high, but would do it if the fight was offered.
