"I was blown away" - Sean Strickland's coach bares all on Khamzat Chimaev sparring sessions and conversations with 'Borz'

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland may have to defend his title for the first time against Khamzat Chimaev.

Still unbeaten, Chimaev made the move up the middleweight division for good this past weekend at UFC 294 against former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. His previous opponent was Paulo Costa and the two were reportedly offered a title shot against Strickland.

Strickland and Chimaev have sparred and trained together in the past. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Strickland's coach Eric Nicksick delved into the details of their sparring session.

"Oh, you know it’s what happens in the training room stays in the training room. I saw a lot of great things by both of them. You know, but for me as a coach, I have to look at it anecdotally and figure out the best path to victory for our guy. I have some ideas and thoughts on the way to approach the game plan."

Nicksick added:

"But with that being said, I was blown away at Khamzat’s skillset. You know, his ability to strike with level change, his ability to strike from both stances, his penetration step. You know a lot of things he does on the ground. Things that I was able to talk to him about and bring over to our style, what we like to do."

Nicksick also anticipated further growth in Khamzat Chimaev's already expansive skillset.

"So, you know, this guy is unbelievable," Chimaev added. "And I can only imagine that, since he’s training at Xtreme Couture, he’ll only continue to evolve and add more tools. So we got our work cut out for us man. This is the best part about being in the position that we are, is you have to fight the next man up and the best available. You know, it’s a much different game plan than we had to have with Izzy. That’s the best part about this sport man, you get the best of the best at every time."

Check out his full comments below [10:06]:

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Sean O'Malley believes Khamzat Chimaev will not dominate Sean Strickland

UFC bantamweight champ Sean O'Malley discussed the alleged domination of Khamzat Chimaev against Sean Strickland in their sparring session.

However, 'Sugar' believes that the sparring session between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland is not indicative of what could go down inside the octagon.

O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch started the conversation in the latest video on UFC star's Youtube account and said:

"They've sparred, they know, they've felt each other before. But everyone I've talked to, like The Schmo and other people, they all said Khamzat kind of beat up Strickland in the room."

The bantamweight king put forward his views and stated:

"Sparring and fighting, they might as well be two different sports, in a sense. Sparring is just not a fight - in that moment, the lights, they're just different."

Check out his comments down below [12:30]: