“I Will Not Be Controlled” – Sean Strickland Claims UFC Limiting Interactions with Khamzat Chimaev

Just a week ahead of his fight with Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland has taken to X to complain about the UFC's conduct.

“I Will Not Be Controlled” – Sean Strickland Claims UFC Limiting Interactions with Khamzat Chimaev

Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev being kept apart by the UFC [via CBS Sports and Reddit]

In Short
  • UFC is limiting interactions between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev to prevent altercations.
  • Strickland has expressed frustration over the UFC's control, threatening to confront Chimaev directly.
  • Chimaev has responded to Strickland's trash talk, indicating the feud has intensified ahead of their fight.

It appears the UFC is pulling out all the stops to prevent an altercation between the main eventers of UFC 328 – Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev. The former champion, who challenges for the title in a week, just revealed that his employers have limited all potential interactions between him and Chimaev ahead of their title fight.

The feud between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev has taken a nasty turn of late. Though they began as teammates, things quickly turned sour after Chimaev moved up to middleweight. Since then, the two have exchanged barbs and called each other out numerous times on social media.

But recently, things have escalated to an untold measure. Strickland threatened to open fire on ‘Borz’ and his team if they attacked him. Chimaev retaliated by saying ‘Tarzan’ doesn’t want a war because if he did, he wouldn’t survive. Given this rising tension, it seems the UFC is keeping these competitors away from each other, something that Strickland lamented and argued against on social media.

The UFC is trying to limit my interactions with the dog. Listen I will say this now. I will not be controlled by a third world dog…. If I find there is unequal treatment between our camps I will walk to the lobby and wait for him. Control… or don’t. I don’t care. Let the chips fall where they may, this is America.

Sean Strickland via X

Sean Strickland even replied to a fan, telling him that this fight week will end with him “in handcuffs.” Any other fighter saying this would be seen as hyperbole. However, when it comes to Strickland, all bets are off. Last month, the former champion drove around Newport Beach trying to start a fight with Chimaev, who trains at Santo Studio.

Evidently, the former middleweight champion is making no attempt to avoid a potential altercation with his upcoming opponent. However, in all fairness, neither is Khamzat Chimaev with his reply to his opponent.

Khamzat Chimaev replies to Sean Strickland

For a while now, Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t been the raving, erratic loose cannon he used to be during his early UFC career. He has remained calmer and more respectful in the buildups to his fights against Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis. However, this upcoming fight has seen ‘Borz’ regress into the wild fighter he was when he debuted.

Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland
Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland [via UFC.com and Reddit]

Chimaev said this week that he “loves” the trash talk from Sean Strickland, as long as it promotes the fight. Even so, Chimaev was clearly bothered by Strickland’s comments, as shown by his extremely personal reply to the American.

You can cry that’s okay, your father make you a girl.

Khamzat Chimaev via X

This unhinged reply from Khamzat Chimaev is clearly an allusion to Sean Strickland’s history with his abusive father. Dricus Du Plessis resorted to bringing it up during his feud with Strickland as well. That, of course, led to them brawling in the crowd while attending UFC 296 as spectators.

With these two fighters ready to go off at each other at a moment’s notice, the extra security that Dana White allegedly hired seems like a wise choice now. Keeping these two apart over the next 7 days will be quite the uphill task for security. Nonetheless, Jon Anik seems to be getting his wish for chaos even before the fight week for UFC 328 kicks off.

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