Ex-UFC Champion Shares Stunning Prediction for Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland

"The Reaper" weighs-in on on his former opponent's first UFC title defense.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

One of the UFC’s former middleweight champions has shared his prediction for this Saturday’s UFC 328 headliner between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.

A perfect 15-0 in his professional MMA career, Chimaev claimed the UFC middleweight belt with a dominant five-round decision at UFC 319 against Dricus du Plessis, who had already successfully defended the title on two occasions.

The second of those two title defenses came in a rematch with Strickland, who famously upset two-time middleweight king Israel Adesanya before he was unseated by “Stillknocks” in their first meeting at UFC 297.

Robert Whittaker Predicts Khamzat Chimev vs. Sean Strickland

Chimaev is currently a prohibitive favorite to defend his title against Strickland and extend his unbeaten record, and former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker recently shared his prediction for the UFC 328 main event.

Dricus Du Plessis (red gloves) and Khamzat Chimaev (blue gloves) react after their fight during UFC 319 at United Center. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

“We want to see if Strickland has what it takes,” Whittaker said during an interview with Paramount (h/t MMA Fighting). “He talks a big game, he almost convinces me that he can do it, but having been in there with Chimaev and having seen what Chimaev can do once he gets his hands on you, and he will because he shoots from so far away and he commits wholeheartedly, he will get you to the mat. It’s what happens after. We’ve seen that he has the cardio to be able to do that for five rounds as well…Gun to my head, Chimaev’s going to run him over.”

Reportedly gearing up to make his light heavyweight debut against Nikita Krylov at UFC 329, Whittaker met Chimaev at UFC 308 in what was the undefeated star’s final fight before getting a long-awaited UFC title shot.

Khamzat Chimaev made short work of Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. | Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Many fans expected the matchup to provide a major test for Chimaev, but “Borz” quickly brought things to the mat and did some significant damage to Whittaker’s jaw with a nasty face crank that brought things to an end less than four minutes into the opening round.

Sean Strickland Gets Second Chance to Reclaim UFC Title

Chimaev has now collected nine Octagon victories since joining the UFC in 2020, and the only major adversity he seems to have faced so far came in a “Fight of the Night” winning welterweight bout with the recently-retired Gilbert Burns at UFC 273.

Khamzat Chimaev congratulates Gilbert Burns on a valiant effort during UFC 273 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. Chimaev won the welterweight bout by unanimous decision. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 32-year-old famously missed weight ahead of a planned welterweight main event with Nate Diaz at UFC 279 following the fight with Burns. After defeating Kevin Holland in a catchweight bout at that event, Chimaev made the full-time move to the middleweight division and took a majoriy decision over former welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 before he submitted Whittaker the following year.

Sean Strickland (red gloves) fights Anthony Hernandez (blue gloves) in a middleweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Strickland rebounded from losing the middleweight belt to du Plessis by taking a split decision over newly-minted light heavyweight contender Paulo Costa. Following his second loss to du Plessis, the former middleweight champion ended Anthony Hernandez’s eight-fight win streak via third-round TKO to earn a second chance at reclaiming UFC gold.