- Khamzat Chimaev defeated Kamaru Usman by majority decision in the co-main event at UFC 294.
- Chimaev has opened as a convincing betting favorite in a potential fight for the UFC middleweight championship versus Sean Strickland.
- Strickland does not believe that Chimaev has earned a title fight.
Khamzat Chimaev (13-0-0) is looking ahead to his next challenge after earning a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman (20-4-0) at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
At BetOnline, oddsmakers have already released Sean Strickland vs. Chimaev odds for a potential fight for the UFC middleweight championship. Currently, Chimaev (13-0-0) is a heavy -300 favorite to beat Strickland (28-5-0) for the title.
Chimaev thoroughly impressed two out of three judges in his win over Usman. The judges scored the three-round fight 29-27, 29-27, 28-28. Two judges easily gave the nod to Chimaev, while one judge didn’t see the fight the same way.
Usman came on too late in the fight to defeat Chimaev. The 36-year-old Nigerian and former welterweight champion was the aggressor and had some success against Chimaev in the third round. The judge who scored the fight, 28-28, believed that Usman showed enough in the later stages of the fight to warrant a draw.
Usman Claims He Would Have Won Five-Round Fight
Usman wasn’t that impressed with Chimaev’s performance. In fact, he believed if it was a five-round bout, he would have won.
“That’s my fault. I feel like that’s a five-round fight. It shouldn’t have been a three-round fight. But it is what it is, you know? I can’t cry about spilled milk, as they say. We go back and we re-assess and we come back. Five rounds, I think I stop him,” said Usman.
The “Nigerian Nightmare” continued:
“He is as advertised, I give him props. But you tell me, does it look like I’m done? I came off the couch in ten days and that’s what you got. Give me five rounds and it’s a different story.”
Usman took the fight against Chimaev after Paulo Costa was re-hospitalized with a staph infection to his elbow. Costa underwent a third surgery for a recurring staph infection in Abu Dhabi.
Costa believed that the fight was terrible and that Chimaev looked horrible against Usman. Additionally, Costa thinks that Usman should have been the winner or at least a draw.
Despite requiring surgery, Costa was in attendance at UFC 294. In the crowd, a daring fan attacked Costa at the Etihad Arena. A brawl ensued, but it was quickly broken up.
Costa is confident that the UFC will reschedule his fight against Chimaev. However, the alternative, and more likely option, is Chimaev vs. Strickland for the UFC middleweight title.
Strickland Believes Chimaev Doesn’t Deserve Title Bout
There have been fighters critical of Chimaev’s effort at UFC 294. Chimaev was a -270 favorite over Usman in the fight. With those odds, bettors believed that Usman wasn’t going to be problematic for Chimaev.
Certainly, Chimaev didn’t breeze past Usman, but his conservative approach ended up working in his favor. However, Costa and Strickland both agree that Chimaev left a lot to be desired.
Strickland doesn’t even believe that Chimaev belongs in the Octagon with him. But, since Chimaev sells PPVs, Strickland isn’t going to turn down a fight with the 29-year-old Chechen.
“He hasn’t f*cking deserved it, but here we are. Give it to him. He sells a lot of fights. I’ll go fight the f*cking man for five rounds. But no, he’s not earned it. He doesn’t f*cking deserve it. Getting a decision with a welterweight off the couch is not f*cking earning it,” Strickland told UFC Fight Pass.
Following the fight, Chimaev said that he thought that he broke his hand in the opening round against Usman. Chimaev claims that his right hand wasn’t as effective afterward because of the injury. “I will check my hand. If it’s good, I’m gonna try to lift the weights and be ready for the next one.”
While some fighters and fans weren’t blown away by Chimaev’s performance at UFC 294, he is the odds-on favorite to beat Strickland. At -300 odds, Chimaev has an implied probability of 75 percent to beat Strickland.
UFC CEO Dana White hasn’t publicly commented on Chimaev’s next opponent. However, the common consensus is that Chimaev will skip over Costa and receive a fight for the UFC middleweight title against Strickland.
