Sean Strickland takes umbrage with the idea of Khamzat Chimaev at light heavyweight.

UFC middleweight champion Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), who claimed his belt by dominating Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in August, has been chasing a fight with light heavyweight Alex Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) ever since.

Former middleweight champion Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) re-positioned himself in title contention after he finished Anthony Hernandez in the UFC Fight Night 267 headliner on Saturday. He called out Chimaev, and hopes the champion fights him instead of moving up.

“Guy’s just a clown,” Strickland told Full Send MMA of Chimaev. “You want to talk about a clown? You fought once in the middleweight division and you’re moving up to fight an easier fight? And that’s what he’s doing, he’s moving up to fight an easier fight. 205 division is soft as f*ck right now.

“So he’s like, ‘I’m going to go fight Jiri (Prochazka). You’re picking a really easy path. You’re not a double-champ. You’ve won a belt once. If the UFC grants that request, it would be a f*cking clown show, and I hope they don’t. I hope the UFC tells him to go f*ck himself. That’s the right thing to do. He doesn’t deserve it.”

Fortunately for Strickland, UFC CEO Dana White was also dismissive of the idea of Chimaev at light heavyweight, and wants to see him defend his title first.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Strickland: Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t deserve 205-pound title shot