So far, Khamzat Chimaev has threatened to jump Sean Strickland with his team and Strickland has threatened to shoot them all if they follow through. And these are the threats the two have traded just this past week. This should tell everyone that the two hate each other. Strickland has even said that, win or lose, their rivalry will not end even after their fight. But what exactly set it off in the first place?

The pair is set to face each other on May 9 at UFC 328, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey in the UFC middleweight title bout. However, according to Sean Strickland, his problems with Khamzat Chimaev started long before their fight was ever announced. While appearing in an interview with ‘UFC on Paramount’ recently, the 35-year-old shed light on the “misunderstanding” that started it all.

“I will give you factually how this started,” Strickland said. “There was a guy named John out of Colorado, [a] really nice kid, came very young, I think he’s on the contenders now. But we wrestled, and I may have got the better of him [in] wrestling. I took a picture of him, really nice kid by the way, really nice kid, he’s going to do very well in the UFC. And I made a joke, and I said, ‘Oh, I thought you wrestled better for a Chechen.’

“It was a joke because he’s a friend. Anyways, we had this like group chat, Chimaev sent me a message and said, pretty much called me a piece of s—t, and told me he’s going to kill me some crazy s—t. So I told Chimaev, ‘You can simply go f—k yourself. And I said, ‘Chimaev, I will meet you at this location at 5 p.m.’ The next thing he says is, ‘Oh, it was a misunderstanding.’ From that moment, I just knew you’re a f—king coward.”

“Like from that moment, I knew you have [a] lack of f—king dignity,” he added. “You’re just not a f—king man, dude.”

Chimaev and Strickland have previously trained at the same gym, Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. And they have sparred each other as well. Strickland has claimed previously that he got the upper hand during these sparring sessions, and Chimaev had denied those accounts. In any case, the pair will get to prove themselves right this Saturday night.

Strickland is coming off a dominant win over Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez in February this year. Meanwhile, the Chechen defeated Dricus Du Plessis in August last year to become the UFC middleweight champion. Chimaev will defend his title for the first time in the upcoming fight. Regardless, one UFC middleweight belives despite the heated build-up to UFC 328, the fight week will not be as eventful as many expect it to be.

Khamzat Chimaev’s teammate confirms things will be fine ahead of the Sean Strickland bout

At this point, there’s no doubt that Chimaev and Strickland genuinely hate each other. And the tension between them continues to rise with each day. Naturally, there have been concerns about potential altercations before they even step into the Octagon. 

So, the UFC has taken precautions to avoid any unnecessary clashes. For instance, they are staying in different hotels. Not to forget, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that a Paramount face-off between them was canceled. Now, those close to Chimaev have confirmed that things won’t be getting out of hand.

Brendan Allen, Chimaev’s teammate, addressed the situation and emphasized that Chimaev’s team understands what is at stake. He suggested that the focus remains entirely on fight night and ensuring that the opportunity is not lost due to avoidable incidents.

“Khamzat’s team, nor anyone on it that’s part of his entourage or whatever you want to call it, is going to jeopardize that opportunity,” Allen said. “I promise you that nobody is going to do anything to jeopardize it.”

This is a good thing. Why ruin the fun when fans can finally get to see the two fight in a cage once and for all to settle their beef—that is, if they want to settle it.