Sean Strickland is ready to settle things in violent fashion inside and outside of the cage when it comes to Khamzat Chimaev.
The two meet in next Saturday’s UFC 328 main event in Newark, N.J., with the undefeated Chimaev defending his middleweight title for the first time. Much of the build to the contest has revolved around what might happen if Chimaev and Strickland run into each other before fight night, with Chimaev coldly declaring “if he dies, he dies” in the event they meet on the streets,
and Strickland warning Chimaev, “I’m the last dude in America you should threaten.”
At a media scrum Wednesday, Strickland maintained that a face-to-face confrontation with Chimaev could have deadly repercussions.
“All I’m going to do, I’m going to pull my gun out and I’m going to shoot him,” Strickland said. “… If he were to come up to me like a man, say, ‘You know what Sean you said some things about my dad Kadyrov.’ I’m like, ‘You know what, dude? You whored yourself out, not me. I want to settle this.’ I would say let’s settle this like a man.
“But if you come up to me with three f*cking goatf*cker Chechnyans that don’t speak English, I’m going to pull my gun and I’m going to shoot each and every one of you. I’ll be strapped in New Jersey, too, don’t even worry about that.”
Strickland repeatedly mocked Chimaev for his association with Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, who has been decried as a warlord and sanctioned by multiple nations, including the United States. Several prominent UFC stars, including Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, and Henry Cejudo, have also been associated with Kadyrov and he has made appearances at UFC events outside of the U.S., most recently in Abu Dhabi.
Chimaev isn’t the only non-American middleweight Strickland has issues with. When asked how it felt to leapfrog past opponent Nassourdine Imavov in the title race, the former champion went on a tirade against international UFC talent.
“The UFC does this,” Strickland said. “They go find these shitty f*cking people in these third-world f*cking countries and, like, do you really give a f*ck about a French guy that doesn’t even claim f*cking France? … UFC is ruining the sport. We’ve accepted Alex [Pereira] because Alex is a f*cking American. Lives in America, loves f*cking p*ssy, maybe a little bit too much, but we accepted this f*cker because he’s like the American dream, right? We look at Alex like, ‘You’re Brazilian, but you’re also American.’
“Imavov, these motherf*ckers, we don’t accept you guys. We don’t even want to f*cking see you guys. You could be the best fighter in the world, but nobody gives a f*ck.”
Since emerging as an elite middleweight, Strickland has had plenty of public beefs with fighters, including recent opponents Dricus du Plessis and Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez. However, the heat between Strickland and his rivals typically dies down once the fighting is done.
Will the trend continue with Chimaev?
“F*ck, dude, that’s a hard one,” Strickland said. “Nah, I think the shitty thing is whoever wins is going to have bragging rights and whoever doesn’t is just going to have to eat shit until they die. So it’s one of those things, that’s the worst thing about this fight. Say I go fight Fluffy and Fluffy beats me, I raise his hand, I say, ‘Fluffy, you beat me, you did your job.’ Dricus beat me, I raise his hand, ‘Hey, you beat me.’
“But I think me and f*cking Khamzat, we die enemies.”
