Sean Strickland personally calls wrestling specialist to join camp ahead of Khamzat Chimaev fight

Dricus du Plessis has spoken about the need for patience when facing Sean Strickland, something that Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t always shown inside the Octagon.

Chimaev’s style is built around relentless grappling and pressure, a formula that has helped him overwhelm plenty of opponents without needing much time to do it.

With Chimaev’s wrestling background in mind, Strickland is bringing in Johnny Eblen to help with his camp. The former Bellator champion spoke about joining the team during an interview with Bloody Elbow.

Eblen, who is currently preparing for his fight against Bryan Battle at PFL Pittsburgh on March 28th, said: “I actually plan to go out and help him after my fight because me and Sean are buddies.”

“He hit me up, told me that he had a fight coming up before it got announced and I was like, ‘Alright man. We’ll figure it out.’”

“I plan on going out there to help him. I think I’d be a great look for him, push him in the wrestling.”

Eblen has trained with Strickland before and believes he has what it takes to hand Chimaev his first professional loss.

“I think a good healthy Sean coming off a great camp and coming out confident, I think he’s going to give him a lot of problems,” he said.

“I don’t think Chimaev’s going to be able to manhandle him like he does other people.”

Eblen did acknowledge the challenge ahead but backed Strickland if things go according to plan during camp. “Either guy can win. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. It’s going to be a tough fight,” he added.

If Strickland comes in well-prepared and avoids overtraining, Eblen sees no reason why another title run isn’t possible for his friend.

Johnny Eblen weighs in on Strickland vs Chimaev’s training history

Sean Strickland has openly said that Khamzat Chimaev came out on top when they grappled during an earlier training session.

As the fight approaches, there will be plenty of discussion about their time together at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

But Johnny Eblen doesn’t believe this will have much impact on the outcome.

Eblen explained, “It’s different when you’re fighting someone you’ve trained with. I mean, it can make a difference and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s kind of hit or miss.”

“I guess you kind of get an understanding of how the guy can fight and what he’s good at, what he lacks and you could probably pick up some info from it but it’s nothing crazy. It’s pretty normal.”

Eblen, who trains out of American Top Team, noted that fighters often move between gyms and occasionally end up facing former training partners, but said it rarely affects anything significant.