Strickland’s Title Delay Has Turned Into a $1 Million Middleweight Bidding War
GOATIFYSean Strickland’s stalled first title defense has become something stranger than a normal contract negotiation. Nassourdine Imavov has already offered to put $500,000 of his own money on the line if Strickland agrees to fight him. Now Khamzat Chimaev has doubled the public pressure with a $1 million offer for a rematch.
The important distinction is that none of those offers books a fight. Strickland remains the UFC middleweight champion, Imavov is still the leading contender in the title conversation, and Chimaev’s challenge is a public proposal rather than an official UFC agreement. But the money talk has turned a delayed championship booking into a three-man argument over who gets Strickland next — and why.
Imavov’s $500K offer turns a pay dispute into public pressure
Imavov’s frustration started with a fight that appeared close enough to feel inevitable. He had been linked to Strickland for UFC 335 in December, but the middleweight title fight did not make the announced card. Reporting around the negotiations has centered on money, with Strickland saying the matchup was close while the purse remained unresolved.
That is where Imavov made the dispute personal. He publicly offered $500,000 of his own money if Strickland beats him in a proposed January fight and argued that the champion should be stripped if he still refuses. The offer is not a UFC contract and there is no announced date, but it changes the tone. Imavov is no longer simply asking the promotion for the next title shot; he is trying to remove Strickland’s stated financial objection in public.
The sporting case is strong enough without the stunt. Imavov has built himself into a top middleweight through wins over Israel Adesanya, Caio Borralho, Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen. He also has unfinished business with Strickland. Their first meeting came in January 2023 at light heavyweight after Strickland stepped in on short notice and won a unanimous decision.
A rematch for the middleweight belt would therefore combine merit with a clean revenge story. It would also give Strickland a first defense against a contender who has spent years climbing toward the opportunity. That is why the delay matters beyond the purse. Every month without a booking keeps the top of the division frozen while contenders wait for the champion’s next move.
Chimaev’s $1M offer creates a second route to Strickland
Then Chimaev entered the conversation and made the number even louder. The former champion offered Strickland $1 million to fight him again, saying he did not care whether it happened inside or outside the cage. Like Imavov’s proposal, it is a public challenge rather than a signed bout, but Chimaev has a different reason for pushing it: Strickland handed him the first loss of his professional career and took his title.
Their UFC 328 fight in May was close enough to make a rematch easy to sell. Chimaev dominated the opening round with his wrestling, but Strickland survived the early pressure and increasingly forced the fight into the kind of attritional striking exchanges he prefers. Two judges scored the bout 48-47 for Strickland and one had it 48-47 for Chimaev. The split decision made Strickland a two-time champion and left Chimaev at 15-1.
What makes the current situation unusual is that Chimaev is not obviously next in line. After the loss he discussed moving to light heavyweight, while Imavov remained positioned around the top of the middleweight contender queue. A rematch with Chimaev would be commercially easy to understand, but giving him an immediate path back to the belt would require the UFC to decide that the closeness and marketability of UFC 328 outweigh Imavov’s claim.
That leaves Strickland at the center of two very different pressures. Imavov is arguing from contender status and unfinished business. Chimaev is arguing from the narrow title loss and the appeal of a rematch. Both are now using money as part of the sales pitch.
The UFC does not have to accept either fighter’s public terms, and Strickland has not accepted them either. But the division now has a clear decision point. If the promotion finalizes Strickland-Imavov, it rewards the contender path and finally moves the title forward. If Chimaev jumps back into the championship picture, the UFC is choosing the rematch value of one of 2026’s closest title fights. Either way, the longer the booking remains unresolved, the more the middleweight title story becomes about negotiations instead of competition.
Imavov’s $500,000 challenge was already an unusual attempt to force a title fight. Chimaev answering with $1 million turned it into a public bidding war around a champion whose next defense still has not been formally announced.
Strickland does not need to accept either side bet for the story to matter. The offers reveal how badly both challengers want access to the same belt, for different reasons. Imavov wants the title shot his recent run has built toward. Chimaev wants the chance to erase the only loss of his career. The UFC’s eventual booking will tell us which argument carries more weight.
