Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev have been arguing over their infamous sparring session at Xtreme Couture for years now.
The sparring dispute his developed into genuine bad blood between the two top Middleweights, adding an additional layer of intrigue to their UFC 328’s main event this weekend (Sat., May 9, 2026) inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Not only is the 185-pound title on the line, but bragging rights are up for grab as well.
Strickland is known for his fiery fight week behavior,
but it was Khamzat who unexpectedly raised the stakes by releasing some of that controversial footage (watch it here). Though the sparring itself was a bit uneventful, it was a funny response to Strickland’s previous accusation that Khamzat only spends his timing bullying amateurs in the gym.
At the UFC 328 press conference, Strickland addressed the leaked footage, claiming that it was just a warmup round and he never knew he was being filmed.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Strickland said (via MMA Fighting). “The guy’s just a little f—king rat. One, I didn’t know we were filming. Those are our warmup rounds. You’re just a weak man. You’re just a weak, weak man. It’s like what is the point? We’re light sparring. I mean those shorts are a little questionable on my part. They were Amazon. It was a bad angle.”
He continued, “We’ve only sparred once and we did like a three-round spar,” Strickland said. “We sparred once. I kept telling you this. When I got to a gym, I want to spar the best guy. I want to spar him but he would always just go beat up the lower level guys.”
Think we get the next two rounds released in the final 48 hours?
Regardless, the time for gym stories is just about up. On Saturday night, Chimaev vs. Strickland will throw down for real with gold on the line, as “Borz” either scores his first (last?) Middleweight title defense or Strickland becomes a two-time 185-pound king.
Who takes it?
