The Daniel Cormier Show - DC on WILD Khamzat Chimaev & Sean Strickland BEEF + Chimaev vs. Pereira at 205

Summary

---

The Daniel Cormier Show: DC on WILD Khamzat Chimaev & Sean Strickland BEEF + Chimaev vs. Pereira at 205

Date: February 26, 2026
Host: Daniel Cormier
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd / The Volume & iHeartPodcasts

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Daniel Cormier dives deep into the swirling storylines of the UFC’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, centering on Khamzat Chimaev: his potential jump to 205 pounds, his ongoing beef with Sean Strickland, and speculation about a possible future super-fight against Alex Pereira. Cormier uses his expert perspective as a former two-division UFC champion to break down Chimaev’s physical transformation, competitive prospects, and the intrigue surrounding rivalries and title fights.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Khamzat Chimaev’s Rapid Rise in Weight Classes

• Weight Class Conundrum ([03:15])

  • Cormier marvels at how quickly fighters like Chimaev and Pereira are moving up weight classes, stating:

    "These guys just changing weight classes...at an unbelievable rate."

  • He expresses initial skepticism about Chimaev competing at 205, remembering that it’s rare for true light heavyweights to ever have made 170 as adults.

• Physical Transformation ([04:43])

  • Cormier describes seeing new sparring videos:

    “Then I saw a video of him [Chimaev] sparring with Khalil Rountree. His back looked massive. He looks like a 205-pound fighter already.”

  • He also notes Chimaev’s comparable size and power to Luke Rockhold, who is 6’4” and 227 pounds:

    “…Khamzat Chimaev looked just as big, if not bigger…”

• Wrestling Advantage vs. Striker Champions ([06:00])

  • Cormier highlights how Alex Pereira’s lack of a wrestling background could play into Chimaev’s strengths, despite Pereira’s immense size and knockout power:

    “He’s shown takedown defense...But he’s not a guy with a wrestling background. And we have seen what Khamzat have done to guys without wrestling backgrounds.”

---

Title Picture, Weight Cuts & Next Steps

• 185 Troubles – Can Chimaev Still Make Middleweight? ([06:50])

  • Cormier wonders if Chimaev is now too big to return to 185 cleanly, after seeing him next to bigger fighters:

    “How difficult is it going to be for him to get back down to 185? Because I’m telling you, he looks massive next to Rountree.”

  • He projects Chimaev’s next fight will probably be against Nassourdine Imavov, who has earned his title shot.

• Potential Triple Champions? ([10:55])

  • Cormier muses about the contemporary fighters with the ability to win titles in three divisions:

    “I think Ilia has the ability to fight for three belts. I think Pereira has the ability to fight for three belts, and I think Chimaev has the ability to compete in three weight classes at a very high level.”

---

The Sean Strickland & Chimaev “Beef”

• Training Room Stories & Rivalry ([07:50])

  • Cormier explains there’s real tension between Strickland and Chimaev, stemming partly from past training together:

    “When you are two athletes of the highest caliber...one of those guys knows or someone knows exactly what happened. But as most say, what happens in the gym stays in the gym.”

  • Cormier recaps Strickland’s comments from his post-fight press scrum:

    “When Sean Strickland was acting about training with Khamzat...He said, ‘I made him quit.’”

• Strickland’s Verbal Volley ([08:24])

  • Reads Strickland’s riff:

    “He [Chimaev] would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, ‘He looks like my opponent.’ He would pick the smallest guy. He said, Chimaev is a bully.”

• Public Perception & Matchmaking ([09:00])

  • Cormier contemplates whether Strickland truly believes he can beat Chimaev or is just angling for a money fight:

    “Sounds to me like Strickland feels like he can compete with Chimaev...But...is that one victory enough to say once Imavov’s done, this is the guy?”

  • “People are more open now to the idea that Sean Strickland could be the guy.”

---

Cormier’s Assessment of Chimaev at 205

• Ready for Light Heavyweight? ([11:30])

  • Cormier’s current view is clear:

    “I think this kid is big enough to compete at 205. I think that he needs, though, to handle all the business that’s left at 185.”

  • Suggests the UFC is entering an era where multi-division champions are possible, thanks to unique talents like Chimaev, Pereira, and Ilia Topuria.

• Final Thoughts: Chimaev’s Golden Opportunity ([12:24])

  • Cormier sees Chimaev as having enormous possibilities ahead:

    “It’s an exciting time, especially if you’re Team Chimaev, because this dude right now, he seems to have the world at his fingertips…”

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Khamzat’s Physicality
  • “He looks like a 205-pound fighter already.” (Cormier, [04:43])
• On Pereira’s Size at 205
  • “Alex Pereira...was on the scale at 245 pounds. These guys look like they belong in these weight classes and they’ve not even fought there.” (Cormier, [03:30])
• Strickland on the Gym Dynamic
  • "Every time Chimaev walked in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, he looks like my opponent...Chimaev is a bully." (Cormier, quoting Strickland, [08:25])
• Future Outlook
  • “We’re going to start to see guys that could potentially fight for three belts… Ilia, Pereira, Chimaev.” (Cormier, [11:00])

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• Opening & Theme Introduction: [02:12–03:10]
• Chimaev’s Weight Class Progression & Physique: [03:15–06:45]
• Analysis of Alex Pereira’s Strength and Limitations: [06:00–06:50]
• Speculation: Can Chimaev Still Make 185? [06:45–07:25]
• The Strickland-Chimaev Beef Recap: [07:50–09:29]
• Discussion of Strickland’s Contender Status: [09:29–10:40]
• Triple-Champ Possibilities and 205 Assessment: [10:55–12:24]

---

Summary

Daniel Cormier delivers an incisive, entertaining analysis focusing on the fast-evolving landscape of the UFC’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He contextualizes the Khamzat Chimaev phenomenon—his explosive growth in size and skill, open feuds with peers like Sean Strickland, and the buzz about taking on monsters like Alex Pereira at 205. Cormier’s candid, passionate tone invites listeners to speculate alongside him, making the episode feel like an insider’s roundtable on the sport’s biggest “what-ifs.”

Final Word:
"It’s an exciting time, especially if you’re Team Chimaev, because this dude right now, he seems to have the world at his fingertips and it doesn’t seem like he’s a guy that’s going to take that for granted." (Cormier, [12:24])

---

Transcript

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Daniel Cormier]

This is Daniel Cormier from the Daniel Cormier Show. This podcast is sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of ufc. Power doesn't wait. In the octagon or outside of it, you either make the move or you miss the moment. That's why you need a network that's just as powerful as you are. With Total Wireless, you get unlimited 5G data keeping you in the action from the walkouts to the knockouts. Now that's a total power move. Make your total power move today. Visit totalwireless.com or stop by your neighborhood Total Wireless store. Additional terms apply. See totalwireless.com for details.

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, the Case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Daniel Cormier]

Evidence has been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed.

[Amanda Knox]

What if the trut was disguised by a story we chose to believe?

[Nancy Glass]

Oh, my God.

[Daniel Cormier]

I think she might be innocent.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Special Agent Riegel]

This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Special Agent Riegel]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nancy Glass]

I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season two podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumprite became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced 99 years until a confession changed everything.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

I was a monster.

[Nancy Glass]

Listen to Burden of guilt season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Daniel Cormier]

The volume. Okay, guys, our good friends at Hard Rock Bet want to remind you that you can double your winnings on your first 10 bets. On the NBA, on the. On MMA, on all the other sports. So while we might be a little bit sad that the football season ended, Hard Rock back's like, come on, guys, we can still cash in. So in your first 10 bets, you can double your winnings when you sign up. So all you got to do, download the app, Hard Rock Bet app and go and double those winnings on those first 10 bets. There are so many sports. Don't be boohooing because the football season is over. Payable and bonus bets is not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. You must be 21 or older and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling In Florida, call 1888 A D M I T I T in Indiana. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. And if you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. All right, guys, welcome to a brand new episode here at the Daniel Cormier show, brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC. They're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down. And that, my friends, is a total power move. Hey, you know it's a power move. These guys just changing weight classes and changing weight classes so fast. But not only are they changing weight classes, they seem to be growing into the weights at an unbelievable rate. Khamzat Chimaeville is thinking of going to 205. Alex Pereira was on the scale at 245 pounds. These guys look like they belong in these weight classes and they've not even fought there. To think that Alex Pereira at 1.4 at 185 is the craziest thought of all time. But today's video is going to be centered around the idea that Khamzat Chimaev wants to fight at 205. When Khamzat Chimaev started expressing interest in fighting at 205, I was a bit hesitant because it wasn't that long ago that he was fighting at 170. Most 205 pounders myself when I was fighting in this weight class could never have touched 170 pounds as an adult. I was 170 when I was in high school. Once I was done with 171 as a sophomore in high school, I, I never made that weight again. I was too big. So I thought that if Khamzat was to fight at 205, he would be running up against guys that would be just too big for him. And at some point that has to become an issue. Then I saw a video of him sparring with Khalil Rountree. His back looked Massive. He looks like a 205 pound fighter already. And then I watched a video of him sparring with Luke Rockhold, who is all of 6 foot 4 and 227 pounds right now. I'm not talking about the skill level of Rockhold today. I'm talking about the size of Rockhold today. Khamzat Chimaev looked just as big, if not bigger then when you watch the videos, you watch the sparring, you watch him in Khalil Roundtree striking, striking. And if they're not drilling and Luis will put this video for you to see. I'm not an untrained eye. It looks to me like Khamzat is winning the striking against Khalil Romtree, who is an amazing striker. I'm watching him kick with Luke and he's kicking with the same power as Luke. I gotta be honest, guys, I don't know that this kid could not fight at 205 pounds. I really do believe that he's able to fight in this weight class. When he picked me up in Chicago, I felt he was stronger than he was when he's fighting at 170. There's a video him and I grappling way back in Abu Dhabi back in the day. Then when he picked me up in Chicago, I felt he was stronger. But watching him next to these big guys now I am really starting to believe that he can fight at 205. And when you look at the 205 pound champion, Alex Pereira, obviously he's 245 pounds. He's huge. He's massive. But he still doesn't wrestle, right. Pereira is not a guy that wrestles. He's shown take down defense. He's shown that if he hits you, he can put you out completely like you're done. But he's not a guy with a wrestling background. And we have seen what Khamzad have done to guys without wrestling backgrounds. I'm telling you, I'm watching this and I'm thinking to myself, might be a two or five pounder. Now granted, there's business to be done at 185. You know, Nasser Dinamav has earned his title opportunity. He's earned his chance to fight for that belt. Not imagine that Khamzat is here in the United States preparing for that fight with Himavov. That would be my guess if I am thinking about what's next. But the reality is one, how difficult is it going to be for him to get back down to 185? Because I'm telling you, he looks massive next to Roundtree. Two, how will he compete when he's back down there? And three, how does a mov off deal with the size of Khamzat Chimaev at this point? Because while a Mavov was a 185 pound, Khamzov was at 170. Tomov looks like the bigger guy. He looks like the much bigger fighter. Now I'm telling you, you guys have to watch, have to watch that training footage. He looks like a monster. At over 200 pounds, Khamzatimaev also has the Sean Strickland issue to deal with. At 185, these guys cannot stand each other. Look, guys, when you are two athletes of the highest caliber and you have trained together and you have fought in sparring, one of those guys knows or someone knows exactly what happened. But as most say, what happens in the gym stays in the gym. That's the only reason nobody's spoken up. Now, Sean has his story, Khamzat has his story. And they're going back and forth. So when Sean Strickland was acting about training with Hamzat Shamabi, he said, I made him quit. At his UFC Houston post fight media scrum, he goes, witnesses in the audience, he said, where's Eric Niksek at? He said, I made him quit. No, we were doing positional grappling start on my back. I was like, first round, I let him choke me because who gives a f? He goes, but let me tell you about that little bitch. I'll tell you, when I walk into a gym, do you think that I go and find the little weakest man? I say, let's spar. I find the biggest, baddest mfer and I'm like, hey, I want to spar you. Every time Chimaev walked in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest level pro and say, he looks like my opponent. He would pick the smallest guy. He said, Chimaev is a bully. Now, Sean Strickland is Sean Strickland, right? Sean Strickland seems to be wanting to pick a fight. But Sean Strickland, do you guys believe would be picking a fight as strongly if he didn't feel like he might have had some success against Chimaev? Or does Sean Strickland seem like a guy that goes, I don't care what happened in the training room, I want this next opportunity as a title because you can be loud, right, and boastful to earn something, even if you don't know if you can handle. Sounds to me Like Strickland feels like he can compete with Chimaev. We haven't seen anybody do that outside of Kamaru Usman, but it sounds like Strickland believes that he's got a lot to do there. Right, because with Strickland beating Fluffy Hernandez in the way that he did, he immediately is a contender. But. But is that one victory enough to say once Imavov's done, this is the guy? Well, with all this back and forth, with all his back and forth, people are more inclined to buy into it than they would be if he wasn't talking and chirping, if there wasn't bad blood. People are more open now to the idea that Sean Strickland could be the guy. But I mean, that weight class has people that have earned a chance to fight for that belt. I don't know if maybe Sean took some confidence from defending Fluffy, right, Because Fluffy, that guy that knows the cardio machine and, you know, Sean was able to manage that pretty good. I thought he fought tremendous on Saturday night. I think this Chamia fight will be a much difficult issue, but I think that the this kid is, is big enough to compete at 205. I think that he needs, though, to handle all the business that's left at 185. And then maybe we start to see guys that could potentially fight for three belts. I mean, I think Ilya has the ability to fight for three belts. I think Pereira has the ability to fight for three belts, and I think Chimaev has the ability to compete in three weight classes at a very high level. He didn't fight for the belt at 170, but he's a champ at 85. And I do believe that if he goes 205 with the state of the division and the people fighting there, he could be a real problem for guys in that weight class. Man, it's an exciting time, especially if you're team Chimaev, because this dude right now, he seems to have the world at his fingertips and it doesn't seem like he's a guy that's going to take that for granted. But we'll see. We'll see what Chimaev does next. Like I said, my bet would be that it's a mov off. Let me know in the comments who you think Chimaev could fight and how you think he would do at 205. I want to know what you guys think of how he would do at 205. Until next time, guys like subscribe, tell your friends to tell their friends that I've got my YouTube channel and we're continuing to grow and expand and we're going to keep doing videos like this and so much more. Off to the state tournament for me. Until next time. Peace.

[Chelsea Handler]

This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea, after the Big Game. Like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, and it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who is Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the Big Game, it's worth thinking about. And if you want to show support, sharing the Blue Square is one small way to do that.

[Verizon Advertiser]

Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill, walk in, run in pogo stickin' teleport if you can, ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flyin on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best Network based on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd/2025 all rights reserved. Must provide a very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[Amanda Knox]

I'm Amanda Knox and in the new podcast, the Case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story?

[Chelsea Handler]

Evidence has been made to fit.

[Daniel Cormier]

The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed.

[Amanda Knox]

What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe?

[Nancy Glass]

Oh my God, I think she might be innocent.

[Amanda Knox]

Listen to Doubt the Case of Lucy Letby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Daniel Cormier]

This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall.

[Special Agent Riegel]

In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner working the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

[Special Agent Riegel]

Listen to the 6th Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.