Sean Strickland makes bold prediction for UFC 319

Strickland, a possible candidate to face the winner of the UFC 319 main event, began his prediction with insightful analysis of Chimaev’s advantages heading into the fight:

“I think that Dricus is going to break him [in the] fifth round,” he opined. “The only thing is, when you train with these guys, man, when you train with these [Chechens], for one round, dude, it is like wrestling a parasite. Like, they go full send. … I just don’t know if Dricus has experience training with these guys like I have.”

But in the end, Strickland rested his case against Chimaev based on an ad hominem attack:

“…I think this is [what] this fight’s going to come down to: who’s a bigger man? In my opinion, man, Chimaev’s a weak man. … I just think Dricus is going to f---ing break him. I just don’t think Chimaev has the heart to f---ing fight a bigger, better man.”

Strickland is biased against Chimaev. He’s criticized the Chechen for everything from his international travel struggles to his entanglement in an alleged crypto currency scam.

However, Strickland is one of just two fighters who have taken Du Plessis to the fifth round of a UFC fight — and he’s the only one to accomplish the feat twice. That experience and his experience training with Chimaev give Strickland’s declarations weight.

No matter how much willpower Du Plessis brings to the fight, he’ll still have to survive a likely first-round onslaught from a guy who has finished five of his eight UFC matches in under four minutes.