{"id":6733,"date":"2026-02-22T16:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=6733"},"modified":"2026-02-23T14:04:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:04:43","slug":"houston-reshapes-the-middleweight-race-imavov-calls-for-revenge-is-a-title-clash-with-strickland-inevitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/houston-reshapes-the-middleweight-race-imavov-calls-for-revenge-is-a-title-clash-with-strickland-inevitable\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston reshapes the middleweight race\u2026 Imavov calls for revenge: Is a title clash with Strickland inevitable?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2241\" data-end=\"2637\">At <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">UFC Houston<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Sean Strickland<\/span><\/span> didn\u2019t just defeat <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Anthony Hernandez<\/span><\/span>\u2014he reasserted himself as a structural pillar of the middleweight division. Ranked No. 3 entering the bout, the American imposed his trademark forward pressure and high-output striking, securing a third-round TKO that reinforced his elite status at 185 pounds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2639\" data-end=\"2982\">Post-fight, Strickland aimed straight at the throne, calling out reigning champion <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Khamzat Chimaev<\/span><\/span>. Yet the most compelling response came from France. <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Nassourdine Imavov<\/span><\/span>, currently ranked No. 2 behind <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Dricus Du Plessis<\/span><\/span>, reignited the narrative by publicly demanding a rematch.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2984\" data-end=\"3009\">Unfinished business<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3011\" data-end=\"3403\">Their 2023 encounter ended in a unanimous decision for Strickland, but the rivalry never truly cooled. The bout was accompanied by sharp verbal exchanges, and the competitive gap has arguably narrowed since. Imavov has evolved\u2014sharpening his distance management and tactical patience\u2014while Strickland remains faithful to his identity: relentless jab, cage pressure, and psychological warfare.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3405\" data-end=\"3435\">The political chessboard<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3437\" data-end=\"3655\">The scenario becomes even more intriguing if Chimaev moves up in pursuit of a second title, potentially vacating the belt. In such a case, matching the top two contenders would be the most logical competitive solution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3657\" data-end=\"3877\">Speaking to <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Full Send MMA<\/span><\/span>, Strickland brushed aside the idea of unfinished business. Yet from both a meritocratic and promotional standpoint, a rematch with Imavov carries undeniable legitimacy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3879\" data-end=\"4025\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Should the middleweight title become vacant, Strickland vs Imavov II would not merely be a rematch\u2014it would be a contest for divisional authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At UFC Houston, Sean Strickland didn\u2019t just defeat Anthony Hernandez\u2014he reasserted himself as a structural pillar of the middleweight division. Ranked No. 3 entering the bout, the American imposed his trademark forward pressure and high-output striking, securing a third-round TKO that reinforced his elite status at 185 pounds. Post-fight, Strickland aimed straight at the throne, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6735,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733\/revisions\/6735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}