Sean Strickland takes UFC 328 feud with champion Khamzat Chimaev to next level with threat
Sean Strickland takes UFC 328 feud with champion Khamzat Chimaev to next level with threat initially appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Leave it to Sean Strickland to create the most important headline forward of UFC 328. The former champion appears to be like to regain the title on Saturday, May 9 when he sq. off with Khamzat Chimaev.
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Strickland and Chimaev headline the occasion dwell on Paramount+ from Newark, New Jersey and the Prudential Center. The card additionally options flyweight champion Joshua Van defending in opposition to Tatsuro Taira.
But Strickland, a former champion within the middleweight division, launched an unbelievable tirade as solely “Tarzan” can throughout a media occasion to promote the battle.
Former UFC champion boldly states he’ll shoot opponent
“All I’m going to do, I’m going to pull my gun out and I’m going to shoot him,” Strickland stated (thanks to MMA Fighting for the quotes). “If he were to come up to me like a man…I would say let’s settle this like a man.
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“But when you come up to me with three (expletive) goat (expletive) Chechnyans that do not converse English, I’m going to pull my gun and I’m going to shoot each considered one of you.”
Strickland vowed that he would be “strapped” when he arrives in New Jersey for fight-week, proceeding to mock Chimaev for his relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic.
Sean Strickland is never one to remain still
Throughout his mixed martial arts career, including his current run with the UFC, Strickland has always said what he means. That has gotten him in trouble in the past, including in 2022 when he proclaimed on social media that, “If I had a homosexual son I might assume I failed as a person.”
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He has also attacked women and women’s rights numerous times, even going so far as to claim the decision to give women voting rights was an error. Strickland received a suspension for his part in an incident during a Tuff-N-Uff event in Las Vegas in 2025.
Inside the Octagon, Strickland owns a record of 30-7, including a February victory over Anthony Hernandez via finish that earned him a “Performance of the Night” bonus. He won the UFC middleweight title in 2023 over Israel Adesanya, dropping it in his first defense vs. Dricus du Plessis and was unsuccessful in 2025 when he challenged du Plessis again.
