Khamzat Chimaev’s upcoming middleweight championship defense against former titleholder Sean Strickland has drawn comments from a training partner of ‘Borz’, regarding their highly anticipated clash at UFC 328 on May 9th.
The fighter who offered his perspective is Zebaztian Kadestam, who trains alongside the formidable UFC champion at the All Stars gym in Sweden. Kadestam, a past ONE welterweight kingpin, recently debuted in Oktagon MMA. As a long-standing associate of Chimaev’s, Kadestam shared his views on the upcoming confrontation with Sean Strickland, stating [as reported by Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Indeed, I believe he possesses the capability to achieve victory by knockout, submission, or via the judges’ scorecards. However, I consider Strickland a formidable adversary, one who could certainly present a challenging encounter. Nevertheless, as I mentioned, I am confident Khamzat possesses the abilities to either secure a knockout, execute a submission, or simply dominate him for the full 25 minutes. While Strickland is undoubtedly resilient, his performance can be inconsistent; he either performs strongly or he doesn’t. Khamzat, conversely, consistently delivers. He is an absolute force.”
Khamzat Chimaev Releases Sparring Video Featuring Sean Strickland Prior to UFC 328
Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland share a history marked by intense encounters in the training facility, with Chimaev recently making public a video showing their sparring session. Previously, an interview conducted years ago by The Schmo revealed details about Chimaev having an advantage over Strickland during what was characterized as a specific grappling scenario that took place in Las Vegas.
This entire episode unfolded at Xtreme Couture, and ‘Borz’ subsequently published the visual proof online. On his X account, he posted the footage accompanied by a caption that referenced Strickland’s past remarks alleging that Chimaev often targeted smaller and less powerful individuals for intimidation during gym sessions. Khamzat Chimaev declared,
“My actions involve intimidating those who are not strong.”
