{"id":44,"date":"2026-06-26T08:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T08:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/?p=44"},"modified":"2026-06-26T08:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T08:55:16","slug":"sean-strickland-eyes-december-2026-ufc-return-despite-shoulder-injury-in-khamzat-chimaev-title-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/26\/sean-strickland-eyes-december-2026-ufc-return-despite-shoulder-injury-in-khamzat-chimaev-title-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Strickland Eyes December 2026 UFC Return Despite Shoulder Injury in Khamzat Chimaev Title Fight\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The majority of MMA fans expected Khamzat Chimaev to steamroll Sean Strickland in their middleweight title clash at UFC 328. Instead, the American delivered one of the finest performances of his career, edging <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X0beJ9Z2lGk\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">out a razor-close split-decision victory<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to hand the Chechen star his first professional MMA loss and reclaim the UFC middleweight title, becoming a two-time champion in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly two months removed from his triumph in New Jersey, \u2018Tarzan\u2019 is already setting his sights on a return to the Octagon. The victory over Chimaev did not come without a cost. Strickland suffered a broken nose in the opening round of the UFC 328 main event and entered the bout while managing a lingering shoulder injury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite those setbacks, the reigning 185-pound champion has no intention of remaining inactive for long and is targeting a comeback before the end of 2026. Responding to a fan on X, Strickland revealed his tentative timeline, writing, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a December return. Just can&#8217;t become a fat POS while I heal up, haha.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for who could be standing across from him next, many fans have called for an immediate rematch with Chimaev. Supporters of the 15-1 phenom have pointed to the difficult circumstances surrounding UFC 328, where Chimaev reportedly endured a disastrous 44-pound weight cut. The situation stemmed from his reported interest in potentially challenging Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 327, forcing him to juggle multiple possibilities before ultimately competing at middleweight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Sean Strickland is targeting a return in December \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a December return. Just can\u2019t become a fat POS while I heal up.\u201d <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TEuM36PgCO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TEuM36PgCO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/2070188177881522638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/26\/i-just-dont-think-hell-ever-be-the-same-paddy-pimblett-questions-ilia-topurias-ufc-future-after-justin-gaethje-loss\/\" target=\"_self\">\u201cI Just Don\u2019t Think He\u2019ll Ever Be the Same\u201d \u2013 Paddy Pimblett Questions Ilia Topuria\u2019s UFC Future After Justin Gaethje Loss<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Strickland has made it clear that he prefers contenders to earn title opportunities through the rankings rather than reputation. In his view, the next shot should belong to Nassourdine Imavov, who currently sits atop the divisional ladder despite having previously lost to the champion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking at the UFC 328 post-fight press conference, Strickland said, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI truly believe in UFC rankings. I think they fucking matter. I hate when guys jump it. So if that\u2019s who the UFC (want). If that\u2019s the rankings. That\u2019s who it is. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He added, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou know, me and my girl we have been in camp for 6 months, and you guys know camp is. We don\u2019t do things on weekends, we don\u2019t travel, we don\u2019t go out to eat. She is my dietician, so I\u2019m gonna give her a break, and I think what do they say? Nassourdine is next?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for Imavov, the French standout currently holds the No. 2 spot in the official UFC middleweight rankings and is riding an impressive six-fight unbeaten streak. Ironically, his most recent defeat came against Strickland himself, when the two squared off in a short-notice light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 217 in January 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Sean Strickland says Nassourdine Imavov is next in line for a title shot \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Imavov] is next. I&#8217;ll take a little breather, support my boy Alex [Pereira] at the White House. Give me a little time, let my broken nose heal and let&#8217;s get back in there.&#8221;<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/khpgsqZ2jZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/khpgsqZ2jZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/2053368033742041562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly, Strickland was also fast-tracked into title contention after <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/gLvHcV34AyM\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">scoring a stoppage victory over Anthony Hernandez<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at UFC Houston, leapfrogging several contenders on his way to a championship opportunity against Chimaev. With that in mind, the reigning champion appears more than willing to extend the same courtesy to Imavov by granting him the first shot at the middleweight title following his return, which is currently targeted for December 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, Imavov is far from the only viable challenger. A blockbuster showdown between Dricus du Plessis and Kamaru Usman is set to headline UFC Oklahoma City on July 18, and both men own victories over Strickland. Whether it&#8217;s Imavov, the winner of du Plessis vs. Usman, or another top contender, the middleweight division offers no shortage of compelling options. The only question now is which matchup the UFC ultimately chooses for Strickland&#8217;s anticipated December return.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of MMA fans expected Khamzat Chimaev to steamroll Sean Strickland in their middleweight title clash at UFC 328. Instead, the American delivered one of the finest performances of his career, edging out a razor-close split-decision victory to hand the Chechen star his first professional MMA loss and reclaim the UFC middleweight title, becoming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5886,"featured_media":46,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBqqStqzVb\" style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 5000px;aspect-ratio: 5000\/3332\"><\/smartframe-embed><!-- https:\/\/smartframe.io\/embedding-support -->","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[39,40,38],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ufc","tag-khamzat-chimaev","tag-nassourdine-imavov","tag-sean-strickland"],"modified_by":"Kshitiz Kumar Singh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/48"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}