Khamzat Chimaev has been stripped of his UFC title.

Chechnya's Khamzat Chimaev failed to defend his UFC middleweight title, suffering a loss to American fighter Sean Strickland.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in August 2025, Khamzat Chimaev became the UFC middleweight champion, defeating South African Drikus du Plessis at UFC 319. With this result, Chimaev had 15 wins and no losses in MMA.

American fighter Sean Strickland today became a two-time UFC middleweight champion and the first fighter to defeat Khamzat Chimaev, reports FightTime.

The fight took place as part of the UFC 328 tournament in Newark, and the judges declared Strickland the winner by split decision. After hearing the judges' verdict, Khamzat Chimaev handed his opponent the championship belt, congratulating him on his victory, and left the octagon, the publication writes.

Chimaev now has 15 wins in 16 fights. Strickland has 31 wins and seven losses in professional MMA, RIA Novosti reports.

UFC CEO Dana White announced today that Khamzat Chimaev wants to move up in weight class. "He approached me after the fight and said, 'I want to move up. I don't want to compete in this weight class anymore,'" the agency quotes White as saying.

Chimaev has repeatedly received expensive gifts from Kadyrova

17:58 23.08.2025

Expensive gifts to athletes demonstrate Kadyrov's detachment from the needs of Chechen residents.

Kadyrov is trying to portray himself as the leader of all Chechens, including those living abroad, as demonstrated by yet another expensive gift to Khamzat Chimaev after his UFC victory. The Maybach became part of a PR strategy being implemented against the backdrop of the republic's population's poverty.

As a reminder, Khamzat Chimaev enjoys Ramzan Kadyrov's special favor. In August 2025, after Chimaev's victory at UFC 319, the head of Chechnya met the athlete in Grozny, posed for journalists with his championship belt, and presented Chimaev with a Maybach.

In January 2021 In 2020, Chimaev flew to Chechnya, canceling a UFC fight due to a confirmed coronavirus test. Ramzan Kadyrov reported on the fighter's ceremonial reception, adding that he handed him the keys to his car.

In May 2022, the head of Chechnya was a guest at the athlete's wedding. In March 2021, Chimaev, at Kadyrov's invitation, flew to Chechnya for rehabilitation after suffering from coronavirus. Kadyrov then reported that he persuaded Chimaev not to retire from sports, "urging him to gather his strength and not give up."

The Chechen authorities, by commissioning famous people to advertise the social media accounts of Kadyrov's family members and his cronies, funded the promotion of Chimaev's account, among other things.