Heavy is the head that wears the crown. So too might be the waist that holds the belt.
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has been ‘crashing out’ lately — his words not mine — about his current situation. He said his “heart’s not in MMA” anymore and that he wants to switch over to boxing. He’s also been candid, as he so often is, about UFC pay lately.
While Strickland figures out his next steps, Nassourdine Imavov is waiting in the wings to challenge him for his title. Imavov has suffered from
being the odd man out at middleweight thanks to some so-so victories and a total lack of personality. In the current climate, though, it’s pretty obvious that he deserves the next shot (if deserves is even a thing in MMA).
Imavov appears to be very frustrated about the lack of movement when it comes to a potential title fight. So much so that he decided to confront Strickland over it. Yesterday he and some goons friends accosted Strickland as he was leaving the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
Here’s video of that brief exchange.
In this video Imavov asks Strickland why he hasn’t signed the contract to fight him yet. And then goes on to ask him, if money is an issue, he can spot him some cash. Strickland gives the comments the attention they deserve, shrugging them off and moving on with his business.
Later is was revealed that Imavov went to Strickland’s gym first before heading over to the PI. A real man on a mission, this Imavov.
Strickland later took to Instagram to call the whole thing “cringe”.
Strickland also suggested that Imavov went to the PI because he knew he could bully his way through the staff in order to confront Strickland. “It was all fake content” Strickland said. “If anything its [sic] just mildly uncomfortable.”
Hard to chalk this one up as a win for Imavov. If anything it might succeed in making Strickland wait longer to agree to a deal just to spite him. That’s all assuming that Strickland’s ultimate goal is to continue fighting in UFC (with higher pay) and not actually jump ship and find something he thinks might be more fun and/or lucrative.
