Sean Strickland used his UFC 328 media scrum to rip Khamzat Chimaev, Nassourdine Imavov, and Dana White while preparing for his middleweight title shot.
Strickland is scheduled to challenge Chimaev for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Chimaev enters as the reigning champion, while Strickland is trying to regain the belt he won from Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 before losing it to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297.
Strickland opened by attacking Chimaev’s character.
“Here’s the thing about Chimaev. The guy is just a weak man,” Strickland said. “He’s just a weak man.”
He then brought up Chimaev’s past ties to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his current work with coach Greg Jackson.
“He whored himself out to Kadyrov, and now he’s whored himself out to Jackson,” Strickland said. “I’ve been training with these f*cking mountain men, these goat-f*ckers, for a real long time.”
Strickland also mocked Chimaev’s past COVID-related layoff.
“This guy gets f*cking COVID and retires,” Strickland said. “F*cking COVID, bro. Retired.”
Watch the full clip below:
Strickland Took Aim At Chimaev, Imavov And Dana White
Strickland kept going when he imagined Chimaev approaching him over previous insults.
“If Chimaev were to come up to me as a gentleman and say, ‘Hey, you know what? You said some things. You insulted my wife. I actually love sheeps,’” Strickland said. “I love goats, dude. Goat tastes good. He loves goats. We have that in common. I just don’t f*ck ’em.”
He then issued a violent warning if Chimaev approached him with others around him.
“But if you come up to me with three f*cking goat-f*cker Chechens that don’t speak English, I’m going to pull my gun and I’m going to shoot each and every one of you.”
Chimaev is a Russian-Emirati mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler who competes in the UFC middleweight division. He became UFC middleweight champion after defeating Dricus du Plessis, making this Strickland fight his first title defense. The matchup has already carried personal heat, including Strickland’s earlier warning to Chimaev during the build.
Strickland also dragged Nassourdine Imavov into the exchange. Imavov is a French UFC middleweight who was ranked No. 2 in the division as of August 2025. He previously fought Strickland in January 2023, losing by unanimous decision in a short-notice light heavyweight bout.
“The UFC does this,” Strickland said. “They go find these shitty f*cking people in these third-world f*cking countries.”
“Do you really give a f*ck about a French guy that doesn’t even claim f*cking France? The guy’s probably deep inside a goat right now.”
Strickland continued with more shots at Imavov’s background.
“Do you really want to see Imavov after he gets done f*cking off his prayer rug to go f*cking fight?” Strickland said. “No, you don’t want to see that sh*t, bro.”
He then compared Imavov with Alex Pereira.
“We’ve accepted Alex because Alex is a f*cking American,” Strickland said. “He lives in America, loves f*cking guns, likes f*cking pussy, maybe a little bit too much.”
Strickland finished the Imavov portion with a direct dismissal.
“Imavov, these motherf*ckers, dude, we don’t accept you guys,” Strickland said. “We don’t even want to f*cking see you guys. You could be the best fighter in the world, dude, but nobody gives a f*ck.”
The shorter tweet version is below:
https://x.com/ChampRDS/status/2049300931229958625
Dana White was also part of Strickland’s rant. White is the UFC president and CEO and has led the promotion through its growth into a global MMA business.
“Let me tell you, I’m sure Dana White is a sociopath,” Strickland said. “I mean, let’s be honest.”
Strickland then went further.
“I think Dana White would love to watch them all f*cking killed,” Strickland said. “He’s a sick f*ck, dude. A hundred percent.”
He doubled down when asked about White being his boss.
“Do we not think that about Dana White?” Strickland said. “The guy’s probably a f*cking sociopath. Or even, I wouldn’t even say probably, a psychopath.”
When someone reminded him White signs the checks, Strickland fired back, “Yeah, I wish f*cking, that’s why I’m not making, I should be making more money, dude. I don’t got to deal with these f*ckers.”
UFC 328 already had a clear selling point with Chimaev defending the middleweight title against a former champion. Strickland’s latest media scrum added more tension to a matchup that was already personal.
