The long-running feud between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland reaches its peak at UFC 328, where the UFC middleweight championship will be on the line.

The bout takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday, May 10 (Philippine time), capping years of escalating tension that moved from shared training space to public hostility.

Their earliest interaction between the two came in late 2022 at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, where both briefly trained together.

 
Photo: UFC

Strickland later admitted Chimaev had “tapped” him during situational wrestling sessions, an early competitive marker that quietly lingered between them.

Tension soon spilled beyond the gym. In the same year, Strickland made a joke about Chechen people in a group chat involving a mutual friend.

Chimaev responded with threats, prompting the outspoken American to offer a street confrontation at a set time.

Strickland later framed the challenge with the remark, “in the streets... if he dies, he dies,” while Chimaev did not appear at the agreed location, according to the former UFC middleweight champion.

The pattern of online exchanges continued across 2024 and 2025, with similar incidents resurfacing in group chats.

Each time, comedic anecdotes involving Chechens reportedly triggered warnings from Chimaev, while Strickland repeated his willingness to meet outside formal competition.

The exchanges deepened the personal nature of the rivalry rather than easing it.

In a separate escalation this past February, Strickland claimed on Instagram that he positioned himself near Chimaev’s gym and shared his location, daring a response while framing the situation as a real-world test of courage.

Last April, Strickland added another controversial statement, saying he would “pull his gun and shoot” Chimaev’s team if he believed he was being attacked.

The feud intensified again earlier this week when Chimaev released sparring footage from 2022 with the caption “I am bullying weak people.”

Strickland fired back publicly, calling him a “dirty b-----d" and a “rat” for recording and publishing training sessions that were meant to remain private.

The rivalry reached a breaking point during the pre-UFC 328 press conference on Friday, March 8 (Philippine time). Chimaev mocked Strickland’s childhood trauma during their verbal exchange, escalating tensions on stage.

During their face-off in front of the media, Chimaev kicked Strickland in the shin, leading to a brief altercation that security had to separate.

Now, the narrative shifts from confrontation to competition. Years of personal friction, verbal exchanges, and physical provocation converge inside the Octagon, where both fighters will finally compete for the same prize.

At UFC 328, the animosity that once played out in gyms, group chats, and press events will be settled under championship conditions.