Sean Strickland unloaded on Khamzat Chimaev after Chimaev released footage of their long-debated sparring session ahead of their middleweight title fight at UFC 328.
Strickland and Chimaev have argued for years about a sparring session at Xtreme Couture, and the dispute has grown into clear bad blood between the two. With the 185-pound belt on the line in the UFC 328 main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the footage has become a new flashpoint.
At the UFC 328 press conference, Strickland reacted directly to the video, saying, "That’s what I’m talking about," before blasting Chimaev’s decision to film and share the training. "The guy’s just a little f—king rat. One, I didn’t know we were filming. Those are our warmup rounds. You’re just a weak man. You’re just a weak, weak man. It’s like what is the point? We’re light sparring. I mean those shorts are a little questionable on my part. They were Amazon. It was a bad angle."
Strickland also pushed back on any notion that the two have a long training history together. "We’ve only sparred once and we did like a three-round spar," he said, adding, "We sparred once. I kept telling you this. When I got to a gym, I want to spar the best guy. I want to spar him but he would always just go beat up the lower level guys."
UFC 328 is scheduled for Sat., May 9, 2026.
