Strickland apologizes for pre-fight trash talk; questions raised about Chimaev's conditioning

Sean Strickland has apologized for going too far in his pre-fight promotion against Hamzat Chimaev, though the analyst notes this won't undo the damage to Chimaev's aura. Despite Strickland's verbal attacks, Chimaev repeatedly tried to shake hands, smile, and hug him, which would have looked better only if he had dominated in the actual rounds. Instead, Chimaev ended up on his back under Strickland in the second round. The analyst supports Vlad Matveev's theory that Chimaev may have been preparing for a 93kg (light heavyweight) debut but plans changed last minute, as the current preparation team is highly credible and wouldn't produce conditioning for just one round. The post also mentions that Chimaev was under the guidance of top sports science professionals for this fight.