NEWARK – Ahead of their highly anticipated UFC 328 middleweight championship bout, Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev are engaged in a public dispute over recently surfaced training footage. Chimaev released a short clip of their past sparring session, a move Strickland vehemently criticized, labeling his opponent a "little f*ing rat" and a "weak, weak man." The leaked video, which lasts only 26 seconds, appears to show Chimaev landing strikes on Strickland.
Strickland, speaking at the UFC 328 press conference, asserted that the sparring was merely a warmup and that he was unaware the session was being filmed. He also doubled down on previous claims that Chimaev preferred to spar with less experienced fighters. "I didn’t know we were filming!" Strickland stated, also remarking on the "bad angle" of the footage and his own attire during the spar.
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Chimaev, meanwhile, offered a different perspective on the sparring encounter. He suggested that Strickland only began to fight hard after Chimaev indicated he didn't want to spar intensely. Chimaev also implied that Strickland had issues with his coach, Eric, during the session. "When I started to hit hard, he's like, 'Coach Eric, he's starting to punch hard,'" Chimaev reportedly said, adding that Strickland had "problems with his coach Eric, too."
This exchange injects further tension into the rivalry between the two fighters, with their bout for the middleweight title set for Saturday. While photos of their training have circulated previously, this is the first time actual video footage has surfaced, adding another layer to their pre-fight animosity. Strickland, in particular, has used the leak to bolster his narrative that Chimaev is a less formidable opponent than presented.
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The sparring incident occurred at Xtreme Couture, and the footage has reignited years of back-and-forth arguments between the two fighters. Strickland has historically claimed he more than held his own in their past encounters, though he has admitted Chimaev submitted him during specific grappling drills. The release of the video, while brief, serves as a stark reminder of their contentious history leading up to UFC 328.
