Ben Shelton shares thoughts on clay form after early exit in Madrid
Ben Shelton discusses his clay court form following an early Madrid exit.
UFC 328 features Khamzat Chimaev facing Sean Strickland, raising questions about Chimaev's seemingly unbeatable status. Fans speculate whether Strickland can pull off an upset against the undefeated fighter.
In Khamzat Chimaev really as unbeatable as he seems, or will the UFC 328 main event see him get exposed by permanent underdog Sean Strickland? Plus, whatâs the craziest thing this writer ever did to get a story?
All that and more in this weekâs mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
Is Chimaev just GSP 2.0?!? Undefeated guy with an invincible aura whom everyone thinks CANNOT be beaten?!? Brother we've seen this movie before. Chuck, Anderson, GSP, Aldo, Conor, Ronda. When Borz finally loses & it's Sean that does it, everyone will say I SAW THAT COMING đ¤ˇââď¸đ¤Łđ¤Ą
â HOMELANDER (@Mike_Fierce_) May 5, 2026
@Mike_Fierce_: Is Chimaev just GSP 2.0?!? Undefeated guy with an invincible aura whom everyone thinks CANNOT be beaten?!? Brother we've seen this movie before. Chuck, Anderson, GSP, Aldo, Conor, Ronda. When Borz finally loses & it's Sean that does it, everyone will say I SAW THAT COMING
Would it really be so bad to be âGSP 2.0â though? Thatâs my first question here. Georges St-Pierre did dominate his division for like seven years. He lost two fights in his entire career, and he avenged both of those defeats (first Matt Hughes, then Matt Serra) via total destruction. If Khamzat Chimaev could have that kind of career, my guess is heâd be pretty pleased with it.
But if MMA has taught us anything, itâs that nobody is unbeatable. Sometimes itâs the ravages of age or injury or lifestyle that finally catches up to a fighter. Other times it just takes the right style at the right time.
Does Sean Strickland have the right style for Chimaev? I tend to think no, he does not. He has decent defensive wrestling, but weâve never seen him beat a truly elite grappler. And while he has a very effective striking game, he doesnât really have that one-shot power. Heâs at his best when opponents consent to fight his kind of fight. But Chimaevâs whole thing is dragging people kicking and screaming into his world.
If the champ is in shape and uninjured and doesnât fight dumb â which is to say, he doesnât let anger at Stricklandâs pre-fight comments turn him into a mindless brawler â I think he gets it done here.
Sean Strickland's fight against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 is significant as it tests Chimaev's undefeated record and could reveal vulnerabilities in his fighting style.
Sean Strickland's fighting style is characterized by his striking and pressure, while Khamzat Chimaev is known for his grappling and aggressive approach, making their matchup intriguing.
No, Khamzat Chimaev remains undefeated in his professional MMA career, which adds to the anticipation of his fight against Sean Strickland.
Fans are divided, with some believing Sean Strickland could be the one to expose Khamzat Chimaev's weaknesses, while others see Chimaev as an unstoppable force.
Ben Shelton discusses his clay court form following an early Madrid exit.
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Sure, go ahead and talk about the trash talk and the bad blood and all that but please also talk about this freakin fight in the cage! Chimaev is #1 on the must watch list. Sean Strickland could defy the odds again. I canât believe this fight is happening!!!!
â matthewpizana (@justlikelasagna) May 5, 2026
@justlikelasagna: Sure, go ahead and talk about the trash talk and the bad blood and all that but please also talk about this freakin fight in the cage! Chimaev is #1 on the must watch list. Sean Strickland could defy the odds again. I canât believe this fight is happening!!!!
In a weird way I think being the big underdog is one of the best things Strickland has going for him. He performs well in that role. He seems to feel comfortable there. The fights where heâs been most dangerous are the ones that, on paper, he doesnât seem to have any business winning. Itâs against people like Dricus du Plessis, who Stricklandâs style should match up pretty well against, that he underperforms.
But when I think of all the people weâve seen Chimaev ragdoll with ease, itâs hard for me to see how Strickland is the guy who shuts all that down. He either needs to either secretly be a wrestling savant, or he needs Chimaev to throw the game plan out the window in search of a knockout, or he needs to catch Chimaev on the way in with something that at least hurts him enough to change the fight. In fairness, heâs done it before. Just not to Chimaev.
Ben, whatâs the craziest thing youâve ever done for one of your pieces? As an example, Ariel waiting hours at a strip club to get a few minutes to do an interview w/ Floyd Mayweather.
â Pro Fights Info (@ProFightsInfo) May 5, 2026
@ProFightsInfo: Ben, whatâs the craziest thing youâve ever done for one of your pieces? As an example, Ariel waiting hours at a strip club to get a few minutes to do an interview w/ Floyd Mayweather.
Iâm not sure it was all that crazy, but it was memorable. Back when Jon Jones was the hot new kid in the UFC, I got sent to Montreal to meet him at Tristar Gym for a Fight Magazine cover story. (Thatâs how long ago this was; there were still magazines then.)
But when I got to Montreal, thatâs when Jones told me heâd just remembered that his license was suspended for too many speeding tickets so he couldnât drive across the border. (He was living in Ithaca, New York, at the time, and he was also definitely still driving, so the vehicular stuff was what you might call foreshadowing.)
After some consultation with my editor, Matt Brown (not the fighter, but a rad dude nonetheless), I decided to rent a car in Montreal and drive it to meet Jones in Ithaca. Thatâs about a five-hour drive, if youâre wondering. And let me tell you, when you come from one border state (Montana) and fly to Canada, only to then drive back into a different border state, well, the border control officers donât even bother with too many questions before getting down to the business of searching your car.
The story came out well. My time with Jones was memorable. There was a joke going around the Fight Magazine offices that I was a jinx and whoever I wrote a profile on ended up losing the next fight. Will it surprise you then to learn that all this happened about a month before Jones fought Matt Hamill and got disqualified for illegal elbows? I tell you, life is funny sometimes. But at least the early morning drive from Ithaca back to the airport in Montreal is a beautiful one in the fall, with all the trees exploding in yellow and red.
how many companies could sean strickland work for, say the things he says and not be immediately fired?
at this point itâs beyond uncomfortable and frankly, disgusting, to watch a clearly mentally ill man spew hate and be celebrated/well compensated for it. enough is enough.
â dead and alive (@pmsdeadandalive) May 6, 2026
@pmsdeadandalive: how many companies could sean strickland work for, say the things he says and not be immediately fired?
at this point itâs beyond uncomfortable and frankly, disgusting, to watch a clearly mentally ill man spew hate and be celebrated/well compensated for it. enough is enough.
Not that I donât see where youâre coming from â I think many, many people do â but I stopped asking questions about what other work place would tolerate any of this a long time ago. The fact is, this is not like any other job on the planet. We set ourselves up for bad comparisons when we pretend that it is.
These are people who are paid to get into a cage, stripped to the waist, and fight other human beings in front of a live audience. Thatâs not an excuse for any and all terrible behavior, but it is worth remembering that this line of work has about as much in common with working an office job as it does working on a 19th-century whaling ship.
The more Iâve seen of Stricklandâs whole schtick, the more Iâve come to think of him as a wounded child in a manâs body. Remember those kids in school who acted out, totally unable to regulate their own emotions, only to eventually find that there was at least some weird brand of validation that came from the attention? Heâs basically an adult version of that. Seems like what he fears most now is losing that attention â and the rewards that come with it.
During the main event. Should the camera pan to Imanov in the rafters with his Raven watching over or would it be more mysterious if he was just in the audience with the rest of the fighters with the raven?.
â Moopy Moops (@AzzaHausen) May 7, 2026
@AzzaHausen: During the main event. Should the camera pan to Imanov in the rafters with his Raven watching over or would it be more mysterious if he was just in the audience with the rest of the fighters with the raven?.
In my ideal world, Bruce Buffer would be launching into his main event intros when that raven comes swooping down out of the dark and lands on the shoulder of his Jackson Pollock-esque sport coat. Buffer stops cold, eyes darting sideways like, uhhhh is anyone going to do something about this? When Herb Dean or whoever steps up to shoo it away, the raven lets out a mighty caw and then takes flight, spiraling upward while clearly keeping a close eye on the mystified fighters below.
The camera people canât help it. They all train their lenses on the raven, following its circuitous path into the upper reaches of the arena, where it comes to rest on the outstretched hand of a man hidden inside a dark cloak. Slowly, he reaches up to push back the hood concealing his face. Why, itâs ⌠itâs Nassourdine Imavov! Heâs here, up there, with the raven. Watching. And waiting.
Many of us were surprised at the young hotness over the weekend. He beat up flat nose Jackie more than Islam did, and looked great doing it, even getting the finish. What's his ceiling? Hard to believe that style would give Islam problems, eh?
â Evan Willcock (@ewillcock) May 5, 2026
@ewillcock: Many of us were surprised at the young hotness over the weekend. He beat up flat nose Jackie more than Islam did, and looked great doing it, even getting the finish. What's his ceiling? Hard to believe that style would give Islam problems, eh?
I was very impressed with Carlos Prates, but I still wouldnât pick him against Islam Makhachev right now. That said, at a certain point it doesnât matter whether or not we think heâd win. You beat up enough top welterweights, sooner or later they have to give you a crack at the welterweight title.
Will we ever see Shavkat again? My guy was destined for glory until life came out of left field and hit him with a sneak Imanari Roll. Not cool
â Now Boarding Flight 209 (@jmprobus) May 5, 2026
@jmprobus: Will we ever see Shavkat again? My guy was destined for glory until life came out of left field and hit him with a sneak Imanari Roll. Not cool
The recent updates Iâve seen were not super cheerful. Weâve seen people go through some tough stuff and some long roads back to the top. Weâve also seen people who have all the promise in the world but then one terrible break changes their trajectory forever. I really hope Shavkat Rakhmonov is the former and not the latter. Iâd hate for this to be another T.J. Grant situation, where we lose a top contender at his peak before he has a chance to really test himself.
Chael vs Jorge, do you want to see it? Who wins?
â edward (@armwrestlingcea) May 6, 2026
@armwrestlingcea: Chael vs Jorge, do you want to see it? Who wins?
Thereâs enough other fighting going on in MMA. I feel absolutely no need to see this one. Both Chael Sonnen and Jorge Masvidal are gentlemen of a certain age who have found solid niches in worlds that no longer require them to take their shirts off and bleed on TV. Thatâs as it should be. Some things are just better left to younger men who can still get out of a chair without groaning like an old ship being crushed by polar ice.
Whatever beef there is between them should probably stay where it is, which is to say in a series of rants directed at a laptop camera with a ring light behind it while the other guy is not in the same room.