American UFC fighter Stephen Thompson shared his thoughts on the defeat of MMA artist Khamzat Chimaev, who represents the UAE, against Sean Strickland. He noted that Chimaev may not have undergone his usual full and deep preparation for this fight.
On the “MMA Full Mount” podcast, Thompson focused on Chimaev's preparation process. He believes that before the bout with Strickland, Chimaev spent most of his training camp not in Russia or Dagestan, but in the garage of functional training coach Sam Calavitta, which likely affected his readiness.
“Khamzat might not have been fully prepared for the fight against Strickland because he spent most of his training camp in functional coach Sam Calavitta’s garage rather than in Russia,” said Thompson.
The American fighter also recalled Chimaev's previous training camps. He mentioned that when preparing for the fight against Dricus du Plessis, Khamzat trained more in Dagestan or nearby regions. This time, the situation was different.
Thompson did not want to jump to the conclusion that Chimaev took Strickland lightly. However, he believes it is clear that Khamzat did not expect the fight to be this difficult. Strickland caused major problems for his opponent with his style, pressure, and discipline throughout the fight.
“I don’t want to say Khamzat took the fight with Sean lightly, but he definitely didn’t expect it to be this tough. Also, you have to give credit to Sean — he fought a great fight,” Thompson emphasized.
At UFC 328, Chimaev lost to Sean Strickland by decision. This result was a heavy blow for Khamzat, as he lost his middleweight championship belt. Strickland proved once again that he is one of the most dangerous and difficult opponents.
Chimaev is usually known for his high pressure, wrestling, fast attacks, and suffocating style. However, in the bout against Strickland, he could not dominate as expected, which sparked various discussions among fans and experts.
According to Thompson, it is not right to attribute this defeat solely to Chimaev's mistakes. Strickland fought very intelligently, maintained distance well, stayed calm in exchanges, and managed to neutralize his opponent's strengths.
Now, the main task for Khamzat Chimaev is to draw the right conclusions from this defeat. Losing a championship belt is hard for any fighter, but in big-time sports, the road to a comeback begins after such setbacks.
In short, Stephen Thompson linked Khamzat Chimaev's loss to Sean Strickland to differences in the preparation process. He believes Khamzat did not expect such a difficult fight, while Strickland executed his game plan perfectly. It was a painful lesson for Chimaev — now he needs to switch back to “beast mode” to reclaim the belt.
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