Footage posted by Championship Rounds this week shows Nassourdine Imavov walking up to Sean Strickland inside the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas to ask him about an unsigned title-fight contract. People nearby stepped in. There was no physical altercation.
It was the second act of the week for Imavov, who had already gone to Strickland’s gym and left a video message. “I’m here in your gym. Sign the contract. Do you need a pen? Or do you need balls,” he said in it.
What Was Said at the PI
From the footage: “What is your problem? You not sign the contract?” and “Money? I have money, I give. Hey, I’m here, where are you going?” Attribution on the second line conflicts between outlets, with one crediting it to Imavov and another presuming Strickland, so treat the speaker as unsettled.
Strickland’s reply came on X, and it was a shrug. “It was all fake content,” he wrote, also describing the encounter as “just mildly uncomfortable” and saying he “felt awkward.”
Imavov’s Real Problem Is the Calendar
He is ranked third at middleweight at 17-4 and has not fought since beating Caio Borralho by unanimous decision in Paris on September 6, 2025. That is more than thirteen months of inactivity for a top-three contender in his prime, and it explains the desperation more than any grudge does.
He also already lost to Strickland, by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night in January 2023, which is the awkward detail nobody in this clip wanted to discuss.
Two Other Contenders Are Freelancing Too
This is what makes the week notable rather than just loud. Dricus du Plessis, 32 and ranked second at 24-3, told Fight Forecast he expects to be in the mix. “They’re not going to make me fight backwards,” he said. “I have no doubt that I will be champion again.” He added that “time waits for no one” and that he is “100% ready for that.”
Du Plessis returned from roughly eleven months off to beat former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision in Oklahoma City on July 18, after losing the middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in August 2025.
Chimaev, ranked first at 15-1, went a different route on October 5, posting on X that he would pay Strickland to fight and telling him to send a location, adding that he did not care whether it happened inside or outside the cage. One outlet read his emoji as a million dollars. That is an interpretation, not a stated figure.
What This Says About the Division
The top three contenders at middleweight all made public plays for the same fight inside 72 hours, by ambush video, by cash offer on social media and by interview. That is not three coincidences. It is what happens when matchmaking stalls and nobody knows when the next title fight gets booked.
Whether the UFC has actually issued Imavov a contract is unconfirmed; his own line is the only basis for the claim. The pen he offered Strickland may not have had anything to sign.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.