Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev’s rivalry is currently at a boiling point, with both middleweights continuing to trade threats—one of which includes shooting the other with a gun—ahead of their UFC 328 fight on May 9. However, it wouldn’t be a stretch to admit that the former 185 lbs kingpin has been the more animated figure with his trash talk. Now, with only a few days left before the grudge match, one of Strickland’s former teammates has shed light on the history behind his animosity toward the middleweight champion.

“He just sounds so retarded,” Brendan Allen said in an interview with Submission Radio. “All he wants to do is get an emotional reaction out of people. And it’s just like, all right, bro. Y’all are going to fight on Saturday. See if you’re talking all that s–t then because you wasn’t talking that s–t when y’all trained. You were screaming across the room at Eric, saying how he’s a bad coach for putting you with him.

“You know what I mean? We don’t want to talk about that, though, do we? We don’t want to talk about guys that watched the sparring and the training, saying you got tapped out, or he made him quit, or whatever. You know what I mean? Like, nobody wants to talk about those things. So, yeah, we just let him, we just let… like, we just think of it as a team, or his coaches and everyone, just like, let him talk.” 

For those unaware, Brendan Allen and Sean Strickland were once teammates. Though ‘All in’ primarily trains at Kill Cliff FC, he used to visit other gyms and eventually landed at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas before facing ‘Tarzan’ at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Dos Anjos in November 2020. In that fight, Strickland knocked out Allen, sparking a bitter rivalry between them. But is Allen saying those things because of their past?

Well, there’s more to ‘All in,’ bringing up details about Strickland’s infamous sparring session with Khamzat Chimaev. ‘Tarzan’ has repeatedly denied losing to the UFC middleweight champion during their friendly spar at Xtreme Couture. It’s unclear whether Allen was physically present at the gym during Chimaev and Strickland’s session, but he also appears to be referencing ‘The Schmo,’ who was present during the sparring session.

The popular MMA social media influencer, who claimed to have watched the sparring, admitted that ‘Borz’ submitted ‘Tarzan’ multiple times in training. His account has become an important reference in shaping predictions, as Colby Covington also chose ‘Borz’ to win the bout in Newark.

However, it makes more sense that Allen would back the reigning middleweight champion against Strickland, as the Canadian is part of Chimaev’s team for UFC 328. The two recently shared a training session and posted a clip on social media where Chimaev clearly dominated Allen.

Now, as ‘All in’ and ‘Borz’ have entered a newfound alliance, Sean Strickland has reacted to their pairing up, once again launching an ugly rant aimed at both.

Sean Strickland reacts to Brendan Allen and Khamzat Chimaev sparring

Seeing his past and future opponents’ training together, Sean Strickland was naturally unhappy. Referring to Brendan Allen, ‘Tarzan’ fired verbal shots, claiming that his teammate Johnny Eblen is far superior to Khamzat Chimaev’s new training partner. He even went as far as to say Eblen would destroy Allen if they ever met inside the Octagon.

“If Brendan Allen was right here and you were to watch Johnny [Eblen] spar Brendan Allen, Johnny could f— him if he wanted to. He could truly f— him if he wanted to,” Strickland said in a video posted by Full Send MMA. “So you’re like posting these clips of you beating Brendan Allen, bro? Brendan Allen has his Instagram handle on his truck, bro. You’re pretty much fighting a woman, bro.”

For those unaware, Eblen is a former Bellator middleweight champion who now competes under the PFL following the merger. ‘Pressure’ is primarily part of American Top Team, but maintains a cordial relationship with Strickland and several Xtreme Couture athletes.

The 34-year-old is known for his dominant wrestling and has been helping Sean Strickland prepare for Chimaev. While it would be interesting to see whether Eblen could beat Allen, the focus now shifts to the UFC 328 headliner, with the rivalry continuing to heat up by the day.