Sean Strickland is not brushing off Khamzat Chimaev’s street-talk before UFC 328.
The middleweight title fight is already booked for May 9 in Newark, but the bad blood jumped early after Chimaev said in a recent vlog that he would not try to hurt Strickland more than necessary in the cage, then added, “Out on the street, that’s different, if he dies, he dies.” That line got back to Strickland, and he answered by saying Chimaev had every chance to find him in California and did nothing with it.
Khamzat Chimaev was asked if he’s planning on killing Sean Strickland 😅
“I don’t want to kill anyone. Haram. They wouldn’t let me kill him there anyways.” 💀
(via @AdamZubayraev) pic.twitter.com/InMcPXVRhA
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 16, 2026
“I generally don’t post my location or my whereabouts, I don’t really drop pins where I’m at, I just don’t like to,” Strickland said. “But I was on Instagram and some stupid shit popped up in my feed about Chimaev saying you try to fight me, you’ll kill me in the streets.
“Dude, I was, like, 10 minutes from your gym. I was dropping tags and locations all day on my Instagram. Your homies that train with you follow me, they were seeing my story. You had to know where I was at.”
That was only the first swing. Strickland pushed further by saying he thought Chimaev might actually show up, then took a shot at him by bringing up the old Paulo Costa tension.
“Ten minutes from your gym, bro, I was probably right down the street with you,” Strickland said. “Part of me thought you’d show up, but as we all know with Costa, when he pulled your card, ‘Hold me back, hold me back.’ I’m like the last dude in America you should threaten, but I guess if you don’t show up, you don’t show up.”
Strickland and Chimaev are already making UFC 328 personal
This is not empty pre-fight noise with no stakes behind it. Chimaev is heading into UFC 328 as champion after beating Dricus du Plessis for the belt and running his professional record to 15-0. Strickland is the former champion trying to take the title back, and this matchup was already tense before the street-fight line got tossed into it. Chimaev was already carrying plenty of attention into this title defense.
Chimaev also responded on X after Strickland’s comments, giving the exchange another public chapter before fight week even starts.
Here’s Strickland’s response:
Sean Strickland was dropping his location on social media all day today to see if Khamzat Chimaev would check him
“Your homies saw my story, you had to know where I was at. I’m the last dude in America you should threaten but I guess if you don’t show up, you don’t show up” pic.twitter.com/sgjuU8XaDX
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) April 19, 2026
Here is Chimaev’s follow-up post:
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 19, 2026
Chimaev has also been tied to public friction with Paulo Costa and Ian Machado Garry, so this latest clash fits the pattern around him. He has stayed in the spotlight while building toward UFC 328. Strickland, meanwhile, is doing what he always does when he sees an opening, turning a title fight into something nastier and more personal before the cage door closes.
