Khamzat Chimaev says he will “one hundred percent” be fighting the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis: “They should be afraid”

Khamzat Chimaev says he will ‘one hundred percent’ be fighting the winner of Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis.

Strickland (28-5 MMA) is set to make his first title defense against Dricus Du Plessis (20-2 MMA) at UFC 297 which takes place on Saturday, January 20th at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

‘Tarzan’ defeated Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA) by unanimous decision in September of 2023 at UFC 293 to claim the middleweight belt.

‘Stillknocks’ will be entering the Octagon on an 8-fight winning streak, his most recent TKO victory coming against Robert Whittaker (24-7 MMA) in July of last year at UFC 290.

Khamzat Chimaev, in an interview with Mohammed Hijab, was asked if he believes Strickland is afraid of him, to which he replied:

“I don’t know, man. He has to be afraid. Inshallah we fight with everyone, so the fights in the cage is not that big thing. If we can make some people happy who is going through hard times and all Muslims watching us and me and Khabib, all the Muslim fighters, Belal.”

Continuing ‘Borz’ said:

“We know all of the kids, our kids, they’re watching. They want to be like us, want to be strong people. Inshallah we try to be a good picture for them. Sean Strickland, all these guys, they should be afraid of us. We fight not just for us like they do. We fight for all Muslims.”

Asked if he expects to be next in line for a title fight, Khamzat Chimaev responded (h/t MMAJunkie):

“One hundred percent. He (Strickland) has a good fighter who he’s fighting with, Du Plessis, and if he wins against this guy, for sure we’re going to fight 100 percent. They promised for me that fight, so now we’re going to wait who’s winning the fight and then take the belt.”

The undefeated Chimaev (13-0) has trained with Strickland before at Xtreme Couture.

Khamzat Chimaev last fought and defeated Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA) in October of last year at UFC 294.

Do you believe Chimaev is deserving of a title fight against the winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis?

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