Jorge Masvidal is not sold on UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) defeated former champions Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker back-to-back to earn his title shot. He then dominated and outgrappled Dricus Du Plessis to claim the belt at UFC 319.
Masvidal was critical of Chimaev’s win over Usman at UFC 294, where Usman moved up a weight class and stepped in on less than two weeks’ notice in a majority decision loss.
“Chimaev to me, although he looked great in that DDP fight, I don’t think he’s all that good,” Masvidal said on his “Death Row MMA” podcast. “Look at the Usman fight. Usman was a 170-pounder, took the fight on 11 days’ notice. … I thought Chimaev lost that fight. Look at the tape.
“He won the first round, lost the second and third. Didn’t get more takedowns, got stuffed up and got punched in the face more. So I definitely thought Usman won. That’s a 170-pounder that’s coming off the couch, literally. He’s not training, he’s not living that life.”
Sean Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) emerged as a potential title challenger after finishing Anthony Hernandez in the UFC Fight Night 267 headliner. If Strickland is next for Chimaev, Masvidal is confident we see a new champion.
“I know he went up to 185 and did some big things, but I don’t think he beats Strickland,” Masvidal said. “I’m dumping the house on Strickland. I don’t even think Chimaev fights him because they’ve trained a lot. He’s just a bad style for him.
“I’ve seen Sean go with good wrestlers over at American Top Team – guys who have wrestled their whole life, All-Americans, national champions. Dude, this guy can wrestle defensively. He never uses his wrestling in a fight, but if you try to wrestle with him, you quickly realize this guy can wrestle back, and that costs a lot of energy, and Chimaev doesn’t have the best gas tank.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jorge Masvidal: Sean Strickland a bad style for Khamzat Chimaev
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