Sean Strickland says the ugly Khamzat Chimaev build-up was not real hate. It was fight business, Strickland theater, and another weird week before he won back the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328.
Strickland defeated Chimaev by split decision on May 9, 2026 at Prudential Center in Newark, moving to 31-7 and handing Chimaev his first professional loss at 15-1. After the fight, Strickland said the tension was not as deep as it looked.
“I sell fights. Look how boring the UFC is. Do you even know half the roster?”
He also said the promotion needs personalities to keep fans locked in.
“The UFC is so f*cking boring.”
Strickland said Chimaev was not the villain he made him out to be during fight week.
“He’s a good dude. I made him the most money he’s ever made on a fight. You’re welcome, Chimaev.”
Sean Strickland said there wasn’t real bad blood with Khamzat Chimaev 👀
“I sell fights. Look how boring the UFC is. Do you even know half the roster?
He’s a good dude. I made him the most money he’s ever made on a fight. You’re welcome, Chimaev.” pic.twitter.com/r8UpFDVKPp
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 10, 2026
Strickland said some of the heat came from his usual style not always translating.
“I say things that some people might be offended. But I’m just joking. I think that sometimes you probably didn’t get my humor.”
He said the fight-week energy was not built on real hate.
“There was no true bad blood at all.”
Strickland also admitted he does not like being threatened, which fed into the back-and-forth before the fight.
“Maybe this is the little man in me. I don’t like to be threatened.”
He explained the job as he sees it.
“We’re in the game of fighting. What do you guys really want, me to go out there and like, ‘Yeah dude, you’re a really nice guy, let’s go have a nice little fight’? No. You want me to go, ‘Motherf*ck this guy.’ Yeah, I do it for you guys.”
Strickland Explains Why The Chimaev Beef Ended After The Fight
Strickland said the energy changed once he and Chimaev actually shared the cage for five rounds.
“When you go and fight another man, your soul is exposed. You’re f*cking bleeding and he’s bleeding. I want to quit, he wants to quit. We don’t want to be there.”
He said that kind of fight creates respect fast.
“You just have this level of respect for one another that it transcends race, religion, nationality, country.”
Strickland added another blunt line about the bond after a fight like that.
“You kind of become someone’s brother after you and him try to die, win or lose.”
Sean Strickland on why him and Khamzat Chimaev squashed the beef after their fight:
"When you go and fight another man, your soul is exposed. You're f*cking bleeding and he's bleeding. I want to quit, he wants to quit. We don't want to be there.
You just have this level of… https://t.co/C5kP7BtLqs pic.twitter.com/iqtAgTVcYo
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 10, 2026
That lines up with how the main event ended. Chimaev wrestled Strickland hard early, Strickland dragged the fight into longer striking stretches, and the two embraced after the final horn before the scorecards were read.
When asked who should be next, Strickland pointed to Nassourdine Imavov but made it clear he wants a short break first.
“Me and my girl, we’ve been in camp for like over six months.”
Strickland said his girlfriend handled a lot of the grind with him during camp.
“You guys know how camp is. We don’t do things on weekends. We don’t travel. We don’t go out to eat. She’s pretty much my dietitian, everything, so I’m going to give her a break.”
Then he named the next challenger.
“[Imavov] is next. I’ll take a little breather.”
Strickland also said he wants to support Alex Pereira at the White House.
“I want to go support my boy Alex at the White House. I want to go watch him make history and get that third belt.”
He said he needs time to heal before jumping right back into camp.
“Give me a little time, let my broken nose heal and let’s get back in there and get some fights going on.”
He closed that answer with a simple line.
“We must move forward.”
https://x.com/ChampRDS/status/2053368033742041562
Strickland also revealed he carried a shoulder injury into the Chimaev fight after a training accident earlier in the week.
“Funny story as well. So on Tuesday, I’m sparring Johnny, that motherf*cker, the PFL champ, and I’m at Plinio’s Gym, Cruz’s gym, and he f*cking shoots on me. I hit his brick-ass wall and I separated my shoulder.”
He said the injury was not just soreness.
“I had a Grade 1 AC joint separation on Tuesday.”
Strickland said he tried to get it worked on before fight night.
“I’m sure Chris has a video, and we slam in the f*cking shoulder to get some better pads.”
He said he knew immediately how bad the timing was.
“I remember laying in bed on Tuesday night. I’m laying and I can’t lay on my right, my left side. I’m like, ‘You’re such a f*cking idiot. You are such a f*cking idiot.’”
The injury also changed his pre-fight routine.
“In the back, I normally like to get better warmups, but I didn’t want to warm up and throw my shoulder out.”
Strickland summed up the situation with the kind of self-own only he can deliver.
“It’s hard to tell me you’re a f*cking moron.”
https://x.com/MMA_PROS_PICK_/status/2053357311855325277
Strickland leaves UFC 328 with the belt, a broken nose, a shoulder issue, and Imavov already sitting in the next-man-up conversation. Chimaev leaves with his first pro loss, but also with respect from a guy who spent fight week trying to turn the whole thing into a bar fight with microphones.
The result followed a wild UFC 328 main event and came after Strickland had already accused Chimaev of a questionable weigh-in moment. For more from the card, Strickland’s split decision win over Chimaev, Joshua Van’s title defense over Tatsuro Taira, and Sean Brady’s win over Joaquin Buckley are all part of the same Newark card.
