Brendan Schaub Wants UFC To Book Veteran MW As Khamzat Chimaev's First Title Defense

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Former UFC fighter and MMA podcaster Brendan Schaub made the case for Sean Strickland to challenge for Khamzat Chimaev's UFC Middleweight Championship. 

Chimaev beat Dricus Du Plessis for the title last August, extending his unblemished record to 15. The same title that Strickland had held, defeating Israel Adesanya in September 2023 and losing it to Du Plessis in January 2024, and failed to recapture against Du Plessis once more in February 2025. 

Following on from Strickland's redemption win last month, Schaub made the case during his "The Schaub Show" podcast that he should get another opportunity at the title in a first-time match-up against Chimaev. 

"Sean Strickland is one of their only stars," he said. "There's probably 10 of them; he's one of the 10. It gains traction. If you think [Nassourdine] Imavov is getting the next title shot, you don't know how this business works. A: Strickland beat him on a f***in' two-day notice, so that doesn't make much sense. B: Strickland is such a bigger star, which they're dying for."

Strickland defeated Imavov at light heavyweight in January 2023, though Imavov has remained undefeated in five – and on no-contest – since then. Schaub added that he thought Strickland would be ready to fight Chimaev whenever the UFC calls upon him, while he doesnt know if Imavov would do that. 

Strickland is ranked at third at middleweight by UFC, behind Imavov in second, and Du Plessis in first.

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