Khamzat Chimaev’s Presser Behavior Was “Preview” Of Sean Strickland Fight, Says Ex-UFC Champ

May 08, 2026
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Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland
Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland (Photo by Imagn Images)

Sean Strickland came to Newark with his usual toolkit. The trash talk, the provocations, the unfiltered stream of chaos that has rattled opponents and dominated press conferences for years. On Thursday, it didn’t work. Khamzat Chimaev didn’t let him have the room. Talking about it, Belal Muhammad said it was a teaser of what will happen at UFC 328. 

Instead of playing defense the way most fighters do when Strickland gets going, Chimaev went on offense from the moment they shared a stage. He went after Strickland personally, bringing up his father beating him as a child, the tears, the pain underneath the loudmouth persona. Notably, the champion even kicked ‘Tarzan’ during the face-off.

It was calculated, targeted, and it landed differently than anything the former usually faces at a press conference. Muhammad watched it all and came away with a clean verdict. “Khamzat dominated the presser nice little preview of Saturday,” he wrote on X.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 

Coming from a former welterweight champion who knows both the sport and the psychology of fight week, that’s not a throwaway comment. Strickland has built a career on being the most uncomfortable person in the building. In Newark on Thursday, someone made him uncomfortable instead. The real preview is Saturday. But the presser gave everyone a lot to think about.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dana White Calls Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland A Top-Two UFC Fight

White has seen everything in this sport. Every rivalry, every press conference meltdown, every moment where the hatred between two fighters stopped feeling like promotion and started feeling genuinely dangerous. When he starts ranking things, it carries weight. His take on Chimaev vs. Strickland ahead of UFC 328 stopped people in their tracks.

“If you talk about top 5 UFC fights of all time where the guys have serious hatred between them. I put Khamzat vs Strickland at No. 2 behind Khabib vs Conor,” White said.

The difference with Khabib and McGregor was that the hatred had layers. Religion, nationality, trash talk that crossed lines that couldn’t be uncrossed. Chimaev and Strickland have their own version of that. Two former training partners who know each other, who have history, and who have spent fight week making it abundantly clear that nothing about Saturday night is business as usual.



Khamzat Chimaev’s Presser Behavior Was “Preview” Of Sean Strickland Fight, Says Ex-UFC Champ
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