Khamzat Chimaev suffered his first career defeat at the hands of Sean Strickland on Saturday. And Khabib Nurmagomedov appears to have seen this coming roughly a year ago. Since the loss, a year-old podcast appearance from ‘The Eagle’ has resurfaced, revealing that Nurmagomedov had already identified the exact weakness in Chimaev’s game that could be exploited.
“I always had the same game plan,” Nurmagomedov said in a podcast with Adam Zubayraev nine months ago. “I was taking the fight to the ground. And I would attempt 100 takedowns if required. But you don’t see that in Khamzat’s fights. He usually starts going full wrestling, and when it doesn’t work out, he starts striking with those guys while he is gassed.”
Khabib says Khamzat always makes a mistake by going too hard with the wrestling in the R1 and ultimately gassing himself out.
The podcast was filmed a year ago:
Khabib: “I always had the same gameplan, I was taking the fight to the ground. And I would attempt 100 takedowns… pic.twitter.com/P6bAtaFJgW
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 10, 2026
This is exactly what happened on Saturday night. Chimaev tried to work on the ground in the first round of the fight and found success. However, the momentum shifted in the second round when ‘Tarzan’ started stuffing takedown attempts and even reversed one to end up on top in Chimaev’s guard. ‘Borz’ was looking fatigued in the round.
Conflicting updates about the next move from Khamzat Chimaev
“I want to move up,” White said Chimaev told him. “I don’t want to fight in this weight class anymore.”
This came after a brutal weight cut that visibly impacted Chimaev before his split-decision loss to Sean Strickland.
“I think he had a rough weight cut,” White added.
However, conflicting updates soon emerged regarding Chimaev’s future. Just hours after insisting he planned to move to light heavyweight, he hinted at a rematch with Strickland on social media.
Khamzat Chimaev first posted, “@SStricklandMMA see you soon again,” before following it up with: “Let me know when you are ready.”
Now, uncertainty surrounds whether Chimaev’s next fight will come at 185 or 205 pounds. Although long before Saturday’s fight, Chimaev had expressed his desire to move up in weight.
Khamzat Chimaev appears to have found himself at a crossroads. Either he can vie for a rematch or move up to light heavyweight. Only time will tell what he ends up choosing. But what did you think of Khabib’s foresight?
