Colby Covington anticipates that Khamzat Chimaev would assert clear dominance over Sean Strickland of their upcoming showdown.
Chimaev is ready to defend his middleweight title for the primary time towards former champion Strickland in the primary occasion of UFC 328, scheduled for Might 9 on the Prudential Middle in Newark, New Jersey.
“Borz” captured the 185-pound title with a grappling-heavy performance towards Dricus du Plessis, incomes a unanimous resolution victory at UFC 319 in August 2025. The 31-year-old Chechen stays undefeated at 15–0, together with an ideal 9–0 run within the UFC, and is broadly tipped to proceed his run towards Strickland, pushed by his aggressive strategy.
In the meantime, the 35-year-old American made his return after a year-long break, following a lopsided unanimous resolution loss to Dricus du Plessis of their title conflict at UFC 312 in February 2025. He bounced back in emphatic fashion, scoring a knockout victory over surging contender Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston final month.
Strickland now holds a 17–7 document contained in the Octagon and can be aiming to reclaim the title he first captured with a call win over former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September 2023.
Colby Covington Predicts Tactical Strategy From Khamzat Chimaev Towards Sean Strickland
Throughout a current interview with Submission Radio, Colby Covington was requested to share his ideas on the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland title conflict. “Chaos” described it as a stylistic mismatch, suggesting that “Borz” will doubtless depend on his elite grappling to neutralize Strickland’s placing risk.
“No, I’m not giving him [Strickland] an opportunity,” Covington stated. “[Anthony] Hernandez and Khamzat are utterly totally different ranges of grapplers and the best way they strategy their technique. So, I believe Khamzat’s going to take him down and submit him.”
The previous UFC welterweight champion additional revisited the widely discussed 2022 sparring session between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland, which drew conflicting accounts from each camps, and asserted that the reigning champion dominated Strickland again then and is prone to replicate that efficiency on Might 9.
“Schmo went and watched them spar again at Excessive Couture a few years in the past, and he just about stated it wasn’t aggressive. He was simply taking him down and submitting him. So, I anticipate that very same sport plan.
Covington said that “Borz” would undertake a calculated sport plan and is prone to management the combat decisively.
“He’s not going to be silly and strike with Sean and make it a kickboxing combat. He’s simply going to make it straight grappling, and I believe he’s going to place Strickland in some actually unhealthy positions and both submit him or simply maintain him out for 25 minutes.”
