Before Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev became bitter rivals on social media, the duo had a cordial relationship and even trained together at Extreme Couture. Chimaev was a welterweight then and the bond changed after the Chechen-born fighter moved up to middleweight.
Michael Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, recently discussed the training sessions between ‘Tarzan’ and ‘Borz’ in his interview with Submission Radio.
Bisping claimed the Chechen fighter got the better of his American counterpart in the grappling sessions, but noted that training sessions and actual fights are entirely different.
“We’ve heard stories that, apparently, when they trained, someone told me the other day that Khamzat had his way, and he was choking him out, tapping him out, and stuff like that. But the training room is one thing; what happens in a fight is very different,” Michael Bisping said.
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To substantiate his claim, ‘the Count recounted his experience training with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who didn’t look like a world-beater in the gym, but was phenomenal when the lights were brighter.
“For example, Quinton Rampage’ Jackson. I used to train with him. In the gym, he wasn’t exactly a world-beater because he didn’t care. He didn’t have an ego, he wasn’t getting paid, and he wasn’t actually competing in the gym. But under the bright lights, when it mattered, that man was a ridiculously talented fighter. So, you can’t put too much stock into training,” Bisping added.
Check out Michael Bisping’s comments about Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev below (4:58):
Michael Bisping claims Sean Strickland can’t replicate Khamzat Chimaev’s recent achievement
During an interview with Submission Radio, Michael Bisping pointed out that Sean Strickland’s tirade against Khamzat Chimaev is part of the former’s modus operandi.
With Dana White hinting that Chimaev will face the winner of UFC 312, Bisping stated Strickland won’t have any qualms about fighting ‘Borz’ if he is victorious against Dricus du Plessis.
Despite praising Sean Strickland, Bisping doesn’t believe that Tarzan could finish Robert Whittaker in the first round, as Chimaev did at UFC 308.
“I tell you what, though. What Khamzat did to Robert Whittaker was ridiculously impressive, right? No one’s ever done that to Robert. I don’t think Sean could do that to Robert. So that’s just how good Khamzat is and that’s the skill set that he has.” [5:32 onwards in the aforementioned video]
The 45-year-old asserted that Chimaev is a tough match for both Strickland and du Plessis. On the contrary, Bisping stated du Plessis’s physicality makes the South African a tougher matchup for the Chechen over the American.
Edited by Tejas Rathi
