Khamzat Chimaev has finished one of the most insane press conferences in UFC history by slamming a kick into Sean Strickland during the face off, forcing no less than 10 security staff, including armed police officers, to intervene.
Exactly where said leg kick landed was hard to tell given the mass of bodies – but land it did.
From there, an unsurprisingly furious Strickland was then forcibly held back, and eventually removed from the stage, and soon after tweeted of the assault: “Exactly what I expected a coward to do”.
PPV: UFC 328: Chimaev v Strickland | SUN 10 MAY 11AM AEST | UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev will return to the octagon for the first defence of his title, where he takes on former champ Sean Strickland, in Newark. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
The incredibly wild ending – which is already going viral online — followed almost 30 minutes of intense, and undeniably ugly, verbal tongue fu between the two headliners of this Sunday’s UFC 328 blockbuster in Newark, New Jersey this Sunday.
Chimaev v Strickland war of words begins | 01:10
After months of bad blood between the UFC stars, the press conference opened with both men not only flanked by hulking security and police officers – who, incredibly, had participated in practice runs of the face off beforehand – but with the pair not even allowed take their usual spots by the podium.
Instead, those seats were filled by UFC flyweight champ Joshua Van and challenger, Tatsuro Taira – with the co-main fighters, throughout proceedings, doing little more than act as space between slurs of varying magnitudes.
At one point, Strickland threatened to kill the UFC middleweight champion, whose own contribution to the back-and-forth involved continually reminding Strickland of the abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father.
The American, in turn, slammed the Chechnyan for everything from briefly retiring due to Covid, quitting a sparring session, refusing an offer to sort things in the street, and (most notably, and often) the champion’s long-standing relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov.
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Chimaev leaks Strickland footage | 00:25
Incredibly, the pair had not even found their seats when the assaults started flying.
“All f***ing talk,” Strickland shouted, standing with microphone in hand as his rival walked onto stage. “You’ve had your chance and you never step up”.
And with that, we were underway.
“F*** up bitch,” replied the undefeated champion whose building list of scalps includes the likes of Dricus du Plessis, Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, even Australia’s own Robert Whittaker.
“I’m going to be your daddy in the cage …”
Strickland: “Oh, yeah, you f***ing Chechnyan f***ing whore? I’ll send you back to your [inaudible] …”
Chimaev, laughing now: “Cry … cry … I’m going to be your daddy in the cage. Make you cry again. Yeeeew.”
Strickland, standing now in his The Great American Hop t-shirt: “This guy leaves his sh***y country. Flees to Sweden, goes back home, whores himself out to a f***ing dictator and wants to talk like a man?”.
Chimaev: “Sit down you f***ing bitch. I’m going to be your daddy …”
Strickland: “You f***ing pussy, you f***ing whore”.
At which point, finally, Dana White leaned into his lecturn microphone in the middle of the stage.
“What’s up everybody,” he shouted, “welcome to the press conference”.
And so for another 20 minutes or more, things continued this way.
Salkilld enters rankings with BIG KO | 00:38
At one point early on, amid some wild back and forth, White was asked if the pair would even be allowed face off, as is custom, when proceedings were done.
“Absolutely,” the UFC boss shouted.
Then, moments later, he went again grinning: “Hey, according to my therapist I’m a sociopath … so why would I not want to have a face off here today?”
Cue wild applause.
“Listen, I didn’t come from a third world. I know how to act,” Strickland had also shouted between said quotes above, prompting a short burst of expletives between the fighters that also saw Chimaev branded a “goat f***er” and coward.
Strickland, unsurprisingly, copped more sledging about a past he has spoken openly about, and at one point hammered the champ for choosing to go there.
Elsewhere, the chaotic press conference saw Chimaev challenge Strickland to “shoot me bitch”, and not long after himself declaring, after the pair traded all manner of slurs, “I’m going to take off his head. I’m going to kill him”.
Incredibly, the UFC also separated fans in the crowd for this one.
Quizzed on Chimaev having already said this week how all the security was for Strickland, and his security, the American was asked on stage if he felt safe.
“Let me tell you, I’m an American. I know how to be a f***ing man,” the Las Vegas native said. “You see how they put my fans over here [acknowledging one side of the room], we have f***ing dignity and know how to be a man …”
PPV: UFC 328: Chimaev v Strickland | SUN 10 MAY 11AM AEST | UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev will return to the octagon for the first defence of his title, where he takes on former champ Sean Strickland, in Newark. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Elsewhere Strickland said: “Do you want me to call your daddy Kadyrov? Let him choke you out for a G Wagon?”
Which is where things got uglier again before Chimaev hit back with “it’s not my problem you’re poor bitch.”
Asked at another time, if it was personal, Chimaev shrugged: “I don’t care. It’s just one more chicken I’ve got to take his head off. Just squeeze off. He will be dead in two days.”
As part of the build between the two longtime rivals, and for a brief time, training partners, insults, accusations, even video clips have flown back and forth around how said sparring sessions actually went.
It was no different on stage.
“I beat him every day, bro. Look at this guy man. His dad beat him up every day, f*** him up. He has some mental problems and he’s crying about that. Do you believe this s***?”
And as for which of Strickland’s comments have offended you most.
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I’m just happy to be here, bash that guy, make my money. Be happy. Go home.”
Then it was Strickland’s turn.
Asked if he was emotional, Chimaev shouted across the stage: “Look at his face, I’m here now. Look at his face …”
Strickland: “Let me tell you about this f***ing pussy. I was there when he walked off the mat because he had Covid. Retired. And his dad Ali [Abdelaziz, former manager] had to call and say ‘hey, get back there and make me money’.
“I’ve almost died in a motorcycle accident. Did I f***ing quit? Did I f***ing retire? You let the common cold retire you. Don’t talk about me being a b*** bro. You had a cough and you quit this f***ing sport.”
From there, Strickland was asked if it meant more to beat Chimaev or reclaim gold. Again, his rival answered first.
“He never going to beat me. Never,” he said.
Strickland: “Motherf***er I beat you in the gym, I’ll beat you here, I’ll beat you on this stage in front of everybody mother***er.”
Chimaev: “I beat you all day, every day.”
Strickland: “Shut the f*** up you Chechnyan whore. You dog …”
Chimaev: “I’ll make you cry again. I’ll be your daddy in the cage. I’ll be all day every day your daddy, you know about it.”