Chael Sonnen says Nassourdine Imavov is squandering his opportunity to secure a UFC middleweight title shot by staying silent while Khamzat Chimaev dominates the post-UFC 328 conversation.
Sonnen addressed the situation on his YouTube channel, pointing out that Imavov has both Sean Strickland’s endorsement and the community’s backing — but has done nothing to capitalize on either.
“Imavov, rightfully by us as a community, should be next for a world title, regardless of who is champion. Imavov was next. As a community, that is what we believe. But Imavov hasn’t demanded that. Imavov hasn’t said a word. He has not spoken up. He’s got the blessing of Sean Strickland. Sean Strickland spoke about this one time and say, ‘Yes, I will rematch Chimaev, but that’s going to have to wait, but Imavov is owed. Imavov is the rightful guy. I’m going to fight Imavov.’ That is the blessing and the kiss. That is all Imavov needs in conjunction with some headlines, and he’s not getting them.”
Sonnen dismissed the weight cut narrative Chimaev’s team has been pushing, framing it as a storyline that only works because Imavov has created nothing to compete with it.
“It doesn’t matter to any of them, including Chimaev’s team. They’re just pretending it matters. Why? Because it keeps a headline and a topic that involves Chimaev and Strickland. We’re going to have a real hard time building a beef between Chimaev and Strickland who just got done laughing at us for believing their beef in the first place, so they’ve gone to a new angle. Which is the angle of the weight cut. The built-in excuse.”
“‘Chimaev should beat Strickland and Chimaev should rematch Strickland because he can flip the result, and he can flip the result because of this one thing, the weight cut,’ is a lot bigger story than Imavov’s put out, which is nothing.”
Imavov has responded on social media by posting that he believes everyone will stand on what they said, tagging Strickland and UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard. He is currently riding a five-fight winning streak and has not lost since a short-notice light heavyweight bout against Strickland in 2023.
Dana White has acknowledged the UFC has not decided what to do with the middleweight title picture. Strickland entered UFC 328 with several injuries and is expected to need several months of recovery before returning to action.