Khamzat Chimaev offers Sean Strickland $1 million for rematch

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Khamzat Chimaev of the United Arab Emirates and Sean Strickland of the United States hug after their middleweight title bout during UFC 328 at the Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. | (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t care about the title; he just wants to fight Sean Strickland again. In May, Strickland won a split decision over Chimaev to claim the UFC middleweight title in the main event of UFC 328. The loss was the first of Chimaev’s career, and since then, “Borz” has been angling for a rematch. However, it seems like instead, Nassourdine Imavov is next in line to challenge for the middleweight belt, though nothing has been made official, and so Chimaev would have to wait. So instead, Chimaev proposes he and Strickland just fight to settle things outside the UFC. On Monday, Chimaev sent a message to Strickland, saying he’ll offer Strickland one lemon, slang for $1 million, to fight him Striciland I will pay you 1 🍋 Send me location and let’s fight don’t care outside inside the cage 🦾 — Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) October 5, 2026 “[Strickland] I will pay you 1 [million dollars]. “Send me location and let’s fight, don’t care outside inside the cage.” Chimaev and Strickland had a heated buildup to UFC 328, before ultimately squashing their beef after the fight. The two have since taken shots at each other in the media again, though, and while Strickland has yet to respond to Chimaev’s latest outburst, given their history, it seems like it’s only a matter of time until he does.