Reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland once told current 185-pound title contender Khamzat Chimaev to “be nice” because he was “better than everybody.”
That doesn’t mean “Tarzan” was wilting under the pressure of “Borz,” or somehow getting “blown out of the water” during their training time together at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. In fact, it was “quite the opposite,” according to coach Eric Nicksick.
“I don’t know what they saw in the gym, but that’s not the case by any means,” Nicksick told Submission Radio. “I won’t speak about our training sessions, and what happens inside our gym stays within our gym, but there was no one side or the other that was just getting blown out of the water. That’s not… it’s quite the opposite, if you ask me. But, it was very competitive. And Khamzat trains hard, man. He goes hard, he trains hard, and I think he made everybody in the room better. But by no means did I think that there was like, ‘oh, we’re at a disadvantage,’ by any means at all.”
Like Strickland (28-5), the undefeated Chimaev (13-0) is a former welterweight who eventually transitioned to middleweight with dreams of becoming division champion. The promotion is hoping to pair them off in first-quarter 2024, depending on Chimaev’s health.
If not, No. 2-ranked Dricus Du Plessis will be standing by.
“I know [Khamzat is] constantly training,” Nicksick continued. “So, I know he’ll be working around the hand [injury] and staying in shape and doing the best he can if they get that phone call. But, I’m actually happy for Khamzat, man. I think it’s well-deserved. I think that he’s in a position that he deserves to be in. And, it’s the next man up. I know Izzy’s gonna take some time off. I think the other guy that’s right there is Dricus, obviously. And we’ll see what the promotion wants to do. But if Khamzat’s the fight, that’s the fight we’ll take.”
Expect a decision on that fight in the coming weeks, if not sooner.