Sean Strickland has sent a not-so-subtle warning to Khamzat Chimaev after the UFC middleweight champion recently suggested he might kill the American if they crossed paths on the streets.
Strickland will get his chance to reclaim the title when he throws down with Chimaev in the main event of UFC 328 on May 9 – but both fighters are already at each other’s throats.
PPV: UFC 328: Chimaev v Strickland | SUN 10 MAY 11AM AEST | UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev will return to the octagon for the first defence of his title, where he takes on former champ Sean Strickland, in Newark. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
UFC boss Dana White has confirmed that additional security will be in place ahead of the showdown next month, including housing the fighters in separate hotels.
‘Borz’ said last week that he will not try to kill Strickland inside the Octagon, but he couldn’t make the same promise if they met on the streets.
“I don’t want to kill a man. Haram,” Khamzat said.
“Out in the streets, it’s different. If he dies, he dies. But in the cage, it’s a sport.”
Not one to back away from a threat, Strickland spent his Saturday cruising around Newport Beach, California trying to lure Chimaev out onto the street to settle things the old fashioned way.
“I generally don’t post my location or my whereabouts, I don’t really drop pins where I’m at,” Strickland said in a social media post.
“I just don’t like to. But I was on Instagram and some stupid s**t popped up in my feed about Chimaev saying you’ll try to fight me or kill me in the streets.”
“Dude, I was like ten minutes from your gym,” he continued. “I was dropping tags and locations all day on my Instagram.
“Your homies that train with you follow me. They were seeing my stories. You had to know where I was at.
“Part of me thought you’d show up, but as we all know with Costa, when he pulled your card, ‘Hold me back, hold me back.’
“I’m like the last dude in America you should threaten, but I guess if you don’t show up, you don’t show up.”
The pair have been trading barbs ever since an infamous sparring session four years ago, with both men claiming they got the better of the other.
For Chimaev, the fight marks the first defence of the middleweight title since he captured the strap from Dricus du Plessis and cemented his reputation as the UFC’s boogeyman.
The undefeated Chechen has bulldozed his way through the promotion since arriving in 2020, with his brutal wrestling style.
Strickland recently returned to the win column with an impressive performance against Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez.
Immediately afterwards, the American called out the middleweight king.
“Chimaev probably gets off the bench. I’d like to piece that little Chechen w***e,” Strickland said. “You never know with him. You never know with that guy but that’s what I want.”
Strickland has also labelled Chimaev a “terrorist” and a “f***ing coward” in the past, criticising the champion’s inactivity in the division.
White, wary of the tension escalating, has already scrapped the newly introduced pre-fight Paramount face-off between the pair.
“I hope somebody told them [that isn’t happening],” he said.
“Because that is the case. Because that is a fact.”
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And White plans to use extra security and police to keep them separated before the bout.
“No bulls**t, we’re going to beef up security and law enforcement and everything,” he said.
“All of it. Hotels, bumping into each other, all that [kind of stuff].
“[We’re] definitely [putting them in separate hotels].
“That’s definitely going to happen.”
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