Everyone expected Khamzat Chimaev to run through Sean Strickland like a hot knife through butter. Instead, Strickland did what Strickland does and turned the fight into a jab-heavy grind that earned the American a split decision win and Chimaev’s middleweight title.
Just like when “Tarzan” beat Israel Adesanya, there’s already debate as to whether Sean beat Khamzat or Khamzat beat himself. After a strong first round, Chimaev’s wrestling fell apart and he abandoned his typical grappling-heavy gameplan
to strike with Strickland. It was puzzling to say the least, but Chimaev’s training partner and cornerman Arman Tsarukyan said it couldn’t be more obvious what was going on.
“We fought our hearts out tonight and everyone watching knows what really happened,” Tsarukyan wrote on social media. “Head up Champ. You will get your belt back soon.”
Do we know what really happened, though? What secret thing that’s so obvious is Arman referring to?
Was it the 46 pound weight cut that Tsarukyan previously said Chimaev would be undergoing? It’s hard to give “Borz” a pass on that since that’s a disaster of his own making — or was it? There was a lot of talk about Chimaev moving up to light heavyweight to fight Jiri Prochazka for the vacant 205 pound strap. In the end, the UFC decided to slot Prochazka against Carlos Ulberg in April and have Chimaev defend his middleweight belt in May. When those decisions were made (and UFC has been making them late a lot) could have left Chimaev in a bad position.
There’s also been a lot of talk about Chimaev’s current strength and conditioning coach Sam Calavitta, who has been accused of burning fighters out during training camp. An old interview with former “Coach Cal” student Cub Swanson has been making the rounds following this second suspect Khamzat performance under Calavitta’s tutelage.
“I lost every fight that I trained with Coach Cal,” Swanson said. “And I’m not really blaming him. I learned so much from him and think he’s a savant when it comes to some things … I was getting run into the ground, by the time I made it to the fight I was on [empty]. There was no tapering, it was like grind, grind, grind. You get into the fight and you’re like, ‘I’ve been fighting for two months, three months. I’m tired.'”
Khamzat Chimaev has been accused of over-training for years, so it’s not surprising that he’s fallen in with one of the most strenuous coaches in the game. Is that what cost him at UFC 328? Is that what everyone watching was supposed to know?
In the end, the only thing we know for sure is that whatever Chimaev was up to for UFC 328, it did not work. He looked tentative, he looked tired, and his legendary strength didn’t last past the first round. After two poor performances, we certainly hope those around him know what happened, because something has to change.
