Outside Source
Masvidal is absolutely confident that Strickland will defeat the undefeated middleweight champion. Masvidal doubts Chimaev will even fight Strickland after having trained together in the past. Having trained with Strickland himself, Masvidal has seen the former champion defend himself excellently against elite wrestlers. While Strickland doesn’t use his wrestling offensively, Masvidal believes his defensive work takes a toll on the gas tank of wrestlers like Chimaev.
A Bad Style Matchup
“I’m dumping the house on Strickland on that one… I don’t think Chimaev even fights him because they have trained a lot,” Masvidal said on the “Death Row MMA” podcast. “Strickland beats him. It’s a bad style for [Chimaev]. I’ve seen Sean go with good wrestlers over at American Top Team, guys that have wrestled their whole lives, All-Americans, national champions, and, dude, this guy can wrestle defensively. He never uses his wrestling in a fight, but if you try to wrestle with him, you quickly find out – this guy can wrestle back into me. And that costs a lot of energy, and Chimaev doesn’t have the best gas tank.”
Chimaev (15-0) won the middleweight title with a dominant unanimous decision over Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 last year. While Chimaev controlled Du Plessis for nearly 22 minutes, he didn’t land any significant damage. Masvidal is not a fan of Chimaev’s style, where “Borz” doesn’t risk his position to look for a finish.
“Never been a fan of that style, because it’s fighting, not hugging, and you also have to be a part of entertainment,” Masvidal said. “So if you have a guy in a crucifix but you’re so worried that he might get away that you’re not gonna throw strikes – that f——ing pisses me off… He’s a nervous guy, he doesn’t wanna get hit.”
Meanwhile, Strickland (30-7) was an underdog in his latest matchup against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston last month. Strickland completely neutralized Hernandez’s pressure wrestling before finishing him in the third round to rebound from consecutive title losses against Du Plessis.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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