Sean Strickland has explained his newfound respect for Khamzat Chimaev after the two went to war at UFC 328.

Strickland once again turned the MMA world upside down by scoring another big upset win in a title fight this past Saturday. Strickland challenged Chimaev for the UFC Middleweight Championship inside the Prudential Center in Newark. While “Borz” found early success with his grappling, he soon abandoned it after Strickland began to defend takedowns.

Chimaev instead used his energy for a striking battle that swung in both directions. Ultimately, two of the three judges scored the fight for Strickland, who is now a two-time UFC middleweight titleholder.

Going into UFC 328, there was a ton of bad blood between Strickland and Chimaev. The newly minted 185-pound king attended the post-fight press conference and shared why he and Chimaev buried the hatchet on fight night.

“Unless you’ve experienced it, you just don’t know what it’s like,” Strickland said. “When you go and fight another man, bro, your soul is just exposed. When you’re [expletive] bleeding and he’s bleeding and I want to quit, he wants to quit. We don’t wanna be there. You just have this level of respect for one another that, it like, transcends race, religion, nationality, country. It’s something that you just don’t know. You kind of become someone’s brother after you and him try to die. Win or lose.”

Strickland may have forced Chimaev out of the middleweight division. UFC CEO Dana White told media members that “Borz” shared his plan to move up to the 205-pound weight class as soon he was handed the first loss of his pro MMA career.

As far as who Strickland will fight next, he’s likely to be in for some mandatory rest after a hard-fought title victory. Strickland did tell reporters that he’d like to put his middleweight title at stake against Nassourdine Imavov. The two shared the Octagon back in early 2023 and was contest at light heavyweight. Strickland won the fight via unanimous decision.

What did you make of Sean Strickland’s split nod over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328? Share your opinion in the comments below.