Poirier and Masvidal praise Sean Strickland's high-level wrestling ability

Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal both confirm they have heard about and witnessed Sean Strickland's wrestling skills, describing them as high-level. Poirier stated he knows several good wrestlers who train with Strickland and report he is genuinely strong and difficult to hold down in the grappling exchanges. Masvidal acknowledged that while Chimaev represents a completely different level compared to Strickland's previous opponents, Strickland has handled those closer to Chimaev's caliber reasonably well. Masvidal emphasized it is very difficult to keep Strickland down, having personally witnessed him training with heavyweight wrestlers. Both veterans agree Strickland has strong defensive wrestling and scrambling ability.