Sean Strickland declined Khamzat Chimaev title defense at UFC 294

After news broke that Paulo Costa was injured and out of his UFC 294 co-main event, the UFC reportedly reached out to UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

According to ESPN, Strickland was "offered the fight against Chimaev. However, it was just about a week after he beat Israel Adesanya to win the title in Australia and the timing did not make sense for him."

Striclkand fought Adesanya over the course of five rounds, winning most of them and becoming the new champion on Sept. 9, which is more than a month removed. But we don't blame the new champion for wanting more time to prepare for a dangerous opponent in his first title defense.

So far Strickland hasn't commented on the potential fight.

Khamzat Chimaev says ' I don’t see something special about' Sean Strickland ahead of UFC 294

At the UFC 294 media day Chimaev was asked about Strickland, before we new about the possible fight and he gave his take on how he thinks he matches up.

“I’ve taken him down, I’ve held him down, I’ve choked him, I’ve punched him,” Chimaev told reporters through an interpreter of training with Strickland. “I’ve done all those things so I don’t see something special about him. Basically he’s a fighter’s fighter. If you look at him, he’s like an American cowboy, like from the movies. That’s the kind of guy he is.

He continued, “But, we’ve done our work in the gym together and if they offer him to me, if I can fight him for the belt, that’s what I’ll do. I make the money, I get the belt, I have nothing against him. I think that if you compare us on a skill level-wise, I’m levels above him. I’m in a whole different stratosphere from him. So, he’s not a threat to me, but he’s a good guy, a good fighter, and I’m ready to fight anyone.”

Instead of Strickland the UFC was able to secure the former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. They will meet at middleweight on Oct. 21.