Khamzat Chimaev has reversed his position from immediately after UFC 328 and is now formally pursuing a rematch against Sean Strickland, with his brother confirming that the request has been made and that an October event in Abu Dhabi is the target.
Just hours after the split-decision loss to Strickland on Saturday, Chimaev told Dana White he wants to move up to light heavyweight and is done at middleweight. Within days, he had posted cryptic messages on social media directed at Strickland, and now his brother Artur has confirmed to sports.ru that the camp’s position is clear.
“We’ve requested a rematch with Strickland. There’s an event in Abu Dhabi in October and we want to do it there. Khamzat isn’t the type of person to move to another weight class and leave unanswered questions behind. We want the second fight. Right now we have no other goals.”
ESPN has separately reported that Chimaev is obsessed with getting the rematch and will not accept other bookings in the meantime, a posture that puts the UFC in a complicated position, given that Strickland has already identified Nassourdine Imavov as a likely next opponent, and a queue of genuine contenders exists at 185 pounds.
Artur confirmed that Chimaev cut from 231 pounds down to 185 pounds after being asked to defend the middleweight title instead of competing in a planned 205-pound fight against Jiri Prochazka, for which a contract had already been prepared. Two weeks before the fight, Chimaev weighed 214 pounds. His body shut down during the final stages of the cut, and he required an hour-long pause before continuing.