"Two different sports” - Khamzat Chimaev’s alleged domination of Sean Strickland in sparring won't repeat in title fight, says Sean O'Malley

Khamzat Chimaev's victory over Kamaru Usman has put him on course for a middleweight title fight with Sean Strickland.

'Borz' faced the former welterweight champion at UFC 294 on short notice after original opponent Paulo Costa pulled out due to a staph infection in his elbow. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that the new co-main event in Abu Dhabi was a title eliminator.

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland have sparred together in the past, and according to Sean O'Malley's coach Tim Welch, 'Borz' dominated the middleweight champion.

Welch and O'Malley recently dissected a potential fight between Chimaev and Strickland during the TimboSugarShow podcast. Welch said:

"They've sparred, they know, they've felt each other before. But everyone I've talked to, like The Schmo and other people, they all said Khamzat kind of beat up Strickland in the room."

Sean O'Malley responded by pointing out the major differences between sparring and fighting:

"Sparring and fighting, they might as well be two different sports, in a sense. Sparring is just not a fight - in that moment, the lights, they're just different."

Watch the video below from 12:30:

Leading up to his fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, Khamzat Chimaev stated that he was "levels above" Sean Strickland in terms of skill.

'Borz' pointed to their time sparring together as the reason for his confidence, but following a close fight with 'The Nigerian Nightmare', Strickland doesn't believe Chimaev deserves a title shot.

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Sean Strickland reveals wild story about almost fighting Khamzat Chimaev following misunderstanding

Sean Strickland is arguably the wildest character in the UFC right now, and given his status as middleweight champion, he has more camera time than ever before.

During a recap of the UFC 294 card, Strickland was informed of Khamzat Chimaev's comments that he had dominated 'Tarzan' in sparring.

Sean Strickland then shared a story about an incident that took place between them. Strickland recalled sending a message to Chimaev to meet him for a duel, as well as declaring he would fight 'Borz' anywhere, anytime.

He said:

"One day I made phone with Chechen and he misunderstood what I said. It was more of like a compliment to the fighter and he sent me message talking sh*t and I said, 'Chimaev, you misunderstood but I will see you tomorrow at 3 o'clock, gloves or no gloves, turn up.' And guess what? No show, no answer, we talked it out... Me and him are fu*king different. Chimaev can be right here, I will fight that man to death right here."

Watch the video below: