Strickland vs. Imavov title rematch reportedly close for February in Florida

Sean Strickland's first middleweight title defence, against Nassourdine Imavov, is close to done for February in Florida, MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn said on Tuesday night. Bohn said it on his podcast, The Bohnfire, as reported by EssentiallySports and MMA Knockout on SI. No date, venue or event has been named, and the UFC has not announced the fight.

"I've heard it's maybe even signed or close to signed for February for somewhere in Florida," Bohn said, according to EssentiallySports. His co-host Luke Thomas said he had "heard similar", per MMA Sucka. As of Wednesday, the UFC, Dana White and both fighters had not commented.

Several sources told Bohn that Strickland still earns "well over" $1 million a fight, SI reported. Bohn expects about the same for Imavov. He also said a rematch with Khamzat Chimaev is likely where the UFC wants to go after that.

Why it matters

Strickland hasn't fought since May 9, when he beat Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 in Newark to win the belt back. It was Chimaev's first MMA loss. Strickland closed +375 that night, per his CageOracle page. He was +460 when he first beat Israel Adesanya for the belt in 2023.

In late September, Strickland wrote on X that a December rematch was "almost there" once pay was settled, according to Yardbarker, citing Sherdog. The talks fell through, and Charles Oliveira vs. Diego Lopes moved into the UFC 335 main event on December 12, EssentiallySports reported.

Strickland then took his complaints public in separate posts on X, collected by Cageside Press. In one, he said his body was "crashing" from training, named a groin tear and an AC joint separation, and wrote that his heart "just isn't in MMA anymore". In another, he wrote:

McGregor makes 30 million to fight for 30 second and they dont want to pay us a fraction of it

He said he "will not fight or sign any contract" until it was resolved, MMA Sucka reported. White answered in mid-October, per Heavy. Strickland "just signed a new contract in May", he said, and Strickland's number was "not true". No purse figure has been confirmed by Strickland or the UFC.

On October 4, Imavov offered on X to put up $500,000 of his own money if Strickland beat him in January, per EssentiallySports. On October 7 he confronted Strickland on camera at the UFC Performance Institute and asked, "You not sign the contract?", according to SB Nation. Strickland called the episode "fake content".

The matchup

Imavov is 17-4 with one no contest, and his last loss was to Strickland. Since then he has beaten Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier, Brendan Allen, Adesanya and Caio Borralho, per Wikipedia. He last fought on September 6, 2025, so he'd have been out about 17 months by February. He had been expected to face Chimaev for the title before that fell apart and the UFC 328 shot went to Strickland, EssentiallySports reported in March.

The first fight was in January 2023 in Las Vegas, at light heavyweight. Strickland took it on short notice after Kelvin Gastelum was injured and won a five-round decision. He closed +115 that night, with Imavov the −137 favourite, per our Strickland and Imavov pages.

Both men have done better than their closing prices suggested. Strickland (31-7) is 11-4 in priced UFC fights since 2020, where the prices implied about seven or eight wins. Imavov has won 8 of his 10 priced fights, including Adesanya and Borralho as the underdog. Neither of our pages has odds for the rematch yet.

What comes next

The only February card the UFC has announced is Fight Night Sydney on February 7, according to UFC.com. UFC 336 is in Toronto on January 30. MMA Knockout guesses this fight would headline UFC 337, but nobody has reported that. The UFC's recent Florida pay-per-views, UFC 314 and UFC 327 in Miami, were both in April, EssentiallySports noted.

We'd want to hear it from Strickland before calling it done. He's the one who said he wouldn't sign until pay changed, and he called this same fight "almost there" in September before it fell through. He hasn't responded publicly to Bohn's report.