Sean Strickland doesn’t think too highly of Nassourdine Imavov: “Only thing the French are good at is having affairs and giving up and losing fights”

Sean Strickland isn’t sold on Nassourdine Imavov’s skills.

Strickland stepped up on short notice this week to headline UFC Vegas 67 against Imavov after Kelvin Gastelum was forced out of the bout. Although Strickland only had a few days to prepare, he says wasn’t too familiar with Imavov.

Instead, Strickland says the main takeaway for him is he knows people from France are quitters and cowards and expects Imavov to give up.

“I don’t even know how to f*****g say that name, man. Let’s call him the Frenchie. And if we’ve learned anything about the French, what are the French best at? Giving up. So, I haven’t really watched him fight. I know he likes to bang,” Strickland said at UFC Vegas 67 media day. “I know he likes to throw big punches, but he’s still f*****g French, man. There’s a lot of history of cowardice to move on from when you’re f*****g French. So maybe he’s going to prove a statement. Maybe he’s going to say that his country has left the cowardice behind, I don’t f*****g know. Only thing the French are good at is having affairs and giving up and losing fights. But we’ll f*****g find out. Maybe he’s different.”

Although Strickland thinks Imavov will quit, the Frenchman has yet to be finished in his UFC career. His only loss was a hard-fought majority decision to Phil Hawes. But, if Nassourdine Imavov does quit as Sean Strickland thinks, the American would improve to 26-5 and snap his two-fight losing skid.

Strickland is coming off a split-decision loss to Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 66. Prior to that, he was knocked out by Alex Pereira in July in a title eliminator bout. Before the losses, Strickland was on a six-fight win streak with notable wins over Jack Hermansson, Uriah Hall, and Brendan Allen among others.

Do you think Sean Strickland will beat Nassourdine Imavov on Saturday?