Khamzat Chimaev has stayed relatively quiet in the days leading up to UFC 328, but that all changed at the pre-fight press conference when he unleashed a volatile tirade aimed directly at Sean Strickland.
While it was no surprise that the hatred shared between them would likely boil over as they came face-to-face for the first time during fight week, the trash talk was even uglier than expected. Strickland wasted no time insulting Chimaev’s close ties to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov as well as the time they spent training together a few years ago.
Strickland also used that as a launching pad to blast Chimaev for nearly retiring after he was dealing with the fallout from a COVID-19 infection that knocked him out of a fight, and it appeared for a little while that he may never compete again.
“Let me tell you about this f*cking p*ssy,” Strickland shouted. “I was there when you walked off the mat and had COVID and retired. His dad, Ali, had to call him and say, ‘You better get back there and make me money.’
“I almost died in a motorcycle accident. Did I f*cking quit? Did I f*cking retire? You let the common cold retire you. Don’t talk about me being a bitch. You had a cough, and you quit this f*cking sport.”
As far as those training sessions, both fighters have vastly different memories when it comes to that subject, but Strickland vowed to do to Chimaev on Saturday exactly what he did to him in the gym in the past.
“I beat you in the gym,” Strickland said. “I’ll beat you here. I’ll beat you on this stage in front of everybody, you motherf*cker. Shut the f*ck up, you little f*cking Chechen wh*re.”
The insults were taken to a new extreme after Chimaev decided to go after Strickland and the childhood trauma he’s talked about in the past while growing up with an abusive father. It’s a similar strategy that Dricus du Plessis used ahead of his first fight against Strickland.
“He will be dead in two days,” Chimaev said. “I beat him every day. Look at this guy, his dad beat him up every day, f*ck him up, and he has some mental problems. He’s crying. Look at his face. I’m here now. Look at his face. You’ll cry now.
“He’s never going to beat me. Never. I’ll be your daddy. I’ll make you cry again. I’ll be your daddy in the cage. I’ve been all day, every day, your daddy. You know about it. I’m your daddy. Listen to your daddy.”
That certainly seemed to get under Strickland’s skin, and it shouldn’t be a surprise considering he actually jumped over several rows of fans to go after du Plessis at a UFC event prior to their first fight.
“You’re making fun of child abuse,” Strickland said. “This is why you’re a f*cking animal. You’re a f*cking bitch. You will never be a f*cking American. You are a f*cking coward. Yeah, f*ck you, bitch. That’s what a f*cking bitch looks like, guys.”
That didn’t stop Chimaev from continuing to use Strickland’s upbringing as a way to agitate his opponent before they meet in the octagon on Saturday.
“Only your daddy loves you,” Chimaev said to Strickland. “He beats you up, I’m going to beat you up, too. Tell the people, your daddy beat you up. Cry here now. You’re going to cry, bitch. Sit down and shut up. F*ck you.”
The back-and-forth war of words didn’t slow down for nearly 30 minutes, with Chimaev and Strickland eating up the majority of the pre-fight press conference with insults being lobbed at each other. Security was always standing close by to ensure nobody actually charged across the stage and started a brawl.
Of course, even that eventually backfired after UFC CEO Dana White allowed the UFC 328 main eventers to face off after the press conference ended, and Chimaev ultimately kicked Strickland before security intervened to keep them separated.
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