Fresh off surviving Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling to win the middleweight title, Sean Strickland says training with UFC welterweight Yaroslav Amosov changed his opinion of who the division's best grappler really is, all while Chimaev keeps pushing for an immediate rematch.
Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-27
Sources: Yardbarker, Yahoo Sports, July 2026.
Sean Strickland's grappling assessment came out of a training camp, not a press conference. According to reporting on the comments, Strickland was down in Florida helping Johnny Eblen prepare for an upcoming fight at the American Top Team gym, and he ended up rolling there with Yaroslav Amosov, the Ukrainian welterweight who has quickly built a reputation as one of the most technically dangerous grapplers on the UFC roster.
Strickland's takeaway from those rounds was blunt: he now considers Amosov's grappling superior to Chimaev's, a notable claim given that Strickland is the only man to have solved Chimaev's wrestling under actual UFC lights.
Strickland is not a neutral observer here. He walked into UFC 328 as a heavy underdog against Chimaev's takedown-heavy style and came out with the middleweight title by split decision, a result built in large part on his ability to survive Chimaev's opening-round wrestling before the Chechen fighter appeared to fade and abandon his takedown attempts by the second round.
That firsthand experience against one of the sport's most feared grapplers is exactly what makes Strickland's Amosov comparison notable to grappling fans. It is one thing for a commentator to praise a fighter's grappling from the broadcast booth; it is another for a fighter who has been in the trenches with a wrestler as dangerous as Chimaev to say someone else's ground game is better after rolling with him directly.
Amosov arrives in this conversation with a resume that supports the praise. He carries a 30-1 professional record built largely in Bellator before making the move to the UFC, where his lone career loss came against Jason Jackson in 2023. Since joining the UFC, Amosov has finished both of his opponents, including a submission win over Joel Alvarez on the same UFC 328 card where Chimaev lost his title.
His grappling background reads like a highlight reel for wrestling and control-based fighters: multiple world combat sambo titles and a style built around suffocating top position and finishing sequences rather than just grinding out decisions. That combination of credentials is exactly why a fighter like Strickland, who just spent five rounds surviving elite wrestling, would come away from training with Amosov impressed enough to make the comparison public.
None of this is happening in a vacuum. Chimaev has been publicly campaigning for an immediate rematch since dropping his title, and Strickland has so far turned him down, telling Chimaev to string together a couple of wins before the promotion considers running it back. Strickland's Amosov comment lands right in the middle of that back-and-forth, and whether intentional or not, it reads as another small jab in an already tense rivalry.
For grappling fans, the more interesting story than the rivalry itself is what it says about the sport's evolving hierarchy. If a fighter who just went the distance with Chimaev is now naming a different, lesser-known grappler as the superior technician, that is worth paying attention to heading into whatever comes next for both men. If breakdowns like this get you interested in grappling fundamentals yourself, use the gym finder at BJJGyms.org to find a BJJ or no-gi gym near you, including 10th Planet locations built around live, scramble-heavy training.
Strickland's comment sent fans searching for Amosov's background. Here is the short version.
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Strickland said Amosov has better grappling than Khamzat Chimaev, a comment that followed a training session with Amosov at American Top Team.
Not immediately. Strickland has publicly turned down Chimaev's request for an instant rematch, saying Chimaev should win more fights first.
Amosov holds a 30-1 professional record, with his only loss coming against Jason Jackson in 2023 during his time in Bellator.
Strickland is the fighter who most recently survived Chimaev's wrestling at the highest level, which gives his comparison more weight than an outside observer's.