Chimaev offers Strickland $1 million to settle rematch outside the UFC

Khamzat Chimaev has offered UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland $1 million to fight him outside of a formal UFC booking, posting a direct public callout on Monday that dares Strickland to “send me location.”

The challenge stems from Chimaev’s first career defeat: a split-decision loss to Strickland in the main event of UFC 328 in May, where Strickland claimed the middleweight title. Since then, Chimaev has made no secret of his desire for a rematch, but a return bout appears unlikely in the near term. Nassourdine Imavov is reportedly next in line for a middleweight title shot, though no fight has been made official, leaving Chimaev without a clear path back to Strickland through the UFC’s matchmaking process.

Faced with that wait, Chimaev took matters into his own hands. In a message directed at the champion, he wrote: “[Strickland] I will pay you 1 [million dollars]. Send me location and let’s fight, don’t care outside inside the cage.”

The two fighters had a volatile buildup to UFC 328 before appearing to bury their differences after the final bell. That détente has since frayed, with both men trading barbs in the media in the months that followed. Strickland had not publicly responded to Chimaev’s latest challenge at the time of writing, though their history suggests a reply is unlikely to stay quiet for long.