Jorge
Masvidal will bet the house on Sean
Strickland if he fights Khamzat
Chimaev.
Masvidal is absolutely confident that Strickland will defeat the
undefeated middleweight champion. Masvidal doubts Chimaev will even
fight Strickland after having trained together in the past. Having
trained with Strickland himself, Masvidal has seen the former
champion defend himself excellently against elite wrestlers. While
Strickland doesn’t use his wrestling offensively, Masvidal believes
his defensive work takes a toll on the gas tank of wrestlers like
Chimaev.
Advertisement
A Bad Style Matchup
“I’m dumping the house on Strickland on that one… I don’t think
Chimaev even fights him because they have trained a lot,” Masvidal
said on the „Death Row MMA” podcast. “Strickland beats him. It’s
a bad style for [Chimaev]. I’ve seen Sean go with good wrestlers
over at American Top Team, guys that have wrestled their whole
lives, All-Americans, national champions, and, dude, this guy can
wrestle defensively. He never uses his wrestling in a fight, but if
you try to wrestle with him, you quickly find out – this guy can
wrestle back into me. And that costs a lot of energy, and Chimaev
doesn’t have the best gas tank.”
Chimaev (15-0) won the middleweight title with a dominant unanimous
decision over Dricus Du
Plessis at
UFC 319 last year. While Chimaev controlled Du Plessis for
nearly 22 minutes, he didn’t land any significant damage. Masvidal
is not a fan of Chimaev’s style, where “Borz” doesn’t risk his
position to look for a finish.
“Never been a fan of that style, because it’s fighting, not
hugging, and you also have to be a part of entertainment,” Masvidal
said. “So if you have a guy in a crucifix but you’re so worried
that he might get away that you’re not gonna throw strikes – that
f——ing pisses me off… He’s a nervous guy, he doesn’t wanna get
hit.”
Meanwhile, Strickland (30-7) was an underdog in his latest matchup
against Anthony
Hernandez at
UFC Houston last month. Strickland completely neutralized
Hernandez’s pressure wrestling before finishing him in the third
round to rebound from consecutive title losses against Du
Plessis.