Khamzat Chimaev Offers Sean Strickland $1 Million Out of His Own Pocket for a Rematch

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026 — The UFC middleweight division has turned into a public bidding war, and Khamzat Chimaev just raised the stakes. On Sunday, “Borz” took to X with an offer aimed straight at the man who took his belt and his undefeated record. Chimaev wrote: “Strickland I will pay you 1 [money] Send me location and let’s fight don’t care outside inside the cage.” Translation: Chimaev will pay Sean Strickland $1 million — out of his own pocket — for a rematch.

It’s the second seven-figure-adjacent personal bounty placed on the champion’s head in days. And while none of it is a signed fight, it tells you everything about where the 185-pound division stands: everyone wants Strickland, and the price keeps going up.

The offerDoubling down — literally

Chimaev’s post didn’t come out of nowhere. Days earlier, Nassourdine Imavov had publicly offered Strickland $500,000 of his own money to accept a January bout. Imavov declared publicly: “If it’s really about money, I’ll put $500K of my own money on the line if you beat me in January. I’m putting this on record.” Chimaev’s response was simple arithmetic: whatever Imavov offered, double it.

There’s theater in this, obviously. Fighters offering each other personal bounties on social media is part callout, part negotiation tactic, part content. But there’s also signal. When two of the division’s top contenders are publicly volunteering six and seven figures of their own money just to get the champion to sign, it means the normal machinery — rankings, matchmaking, title defenses — isn’t producing the fight they want fast enough.

UFC 328 · May 2026How we got here

To understand why Chimaev is reaching into his own wallet, rewind to May. At UFC 328, Sean Strickland (31-7) did what few thought possible: he dethroned the unbeaten Chimaev (15-1) by split decision, taking the middleweight title and handing “Borz” his first professional loss. Strickland entered as a big underdog. Chimaev, the smothering wrestler who had run through the division, faded down the stretch and couldn’t impose his grappling the way he had against everyone else.

It was the kind of loss that rewrites a career arc. Chimaev went from untouchable force of nature to a former champion with a puzzle to solve — and the man holding the missing piece is the same one waving the belt. A rematch isn’t just about the title for Chimaev. It’s about the zero. Fighters will tell you the first loss changes everything; the rematch is where you find out what you’re made of.

The moneyRumors, numbers and what’s actually real

Now the obligatory caution, because the numbers flying around this story need it. Alongside the verified public offers, there are rumors — and they should be labeled as such: word that Strickland is demanding $1 million for his next fight while the UFC is allegedly offering $400,000 to show and $400,000 to win. None of that is confirmed. Fighter pay negotiations happen behind closed doors, and the figures that leak are often leverage dressed up as news.

What’s real: Chimaev’s public $1 million offer. Imavov’s public $500,000 offer. Everything else is noise until a bout agreement exists. And it’s worth remembering what these personal bounties actually are — unenforceable, unregulated, and almost certainly never to be paid in the literal sense. They’re a way of saying they want the fight more than the system wants to give it to them, in the loudest possible terms.

The divisionWhat a rematch would actually mean

Strip away the dollar figures and the real story is matchmaking. Strickland is the reigning middleweight champion, and the line of contenders behind him is getting restless. Imavov wants January. Chimaev wants the rematch. The UFC has a champion who, by his own volatile nature, is always one interview away from a new controversy — and a division full of killers who see a stylistic opening that didn’t exist a year ago.

Because that’s the other thing UFC 328 proved: Chimaev is beatable. The aura of invincibility — the wrestling machine who would simply drown Strickland — didn’t survive five rounds. A rematch wouldn’t just be a title fight; it would be a referendum on whether May was the night the division figured “Borz” out, or the night he had an off night. For Strickland, it’s a chance to prove the first win wasn’t a fluke and to cash in as the man everyone is bidding on. For Chimaev, it’s the only fight that matters.

For any of this to become an actual fight, the UFC has to say yes — and that is the part the dollar figures obscure. These personal bounties are unenforceable and unregulated, and neither Chimaev’s $1 million nor Imavov’s $500,000 carries any weight with the matchmakers. Strickland holds the belt, and the rumors say he is negotiating his next payday against a reported UFC offer of $400,000 to show and $400,000 to win. Imavov is campaigning for January. Chimaev wants the rematch to avenge the only loss of his career. But until the promotion puts ink on a bout agreement, the middleweight title picture is three men talking past each other — and the next move belongs to the champion.

Will it happen? The honest answer: nobody knows, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. What we know is that the champion has two contenders publicly waving personal checks at him, a rumor mill spinning on pay figures, and a division that needs its next big fight. The ball — and the bounty — is in Strickland’s court. Track every move in the middleweight division on the Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland pages, and the fight hub.