Ariel Helwani warns that the UFC 328 main event between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev may be canceled due to escalating trash talk. He compares their feud to some of the most intense rivalries in MMA history.
Key points
Ariel Helwani warns UFC 328 main event may be canceled
Sean Strickland vs. Khamzat Chimaev feud escalates
Helwani compares their rivalry to historic MMA feuds
Mentioned in this story
Ariel Helwani
Sean StricklandKhamzat Chimaev
Ariel Helwani Warns UFC 328 Main Event in Jeopardy of Being Canceled
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Ariel Helwani has issued a serious warning about the build to Sean Strickland vs. Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 on May 9, placing the trash talk between the two in a category reserved for the most heated feuds in MMA history and sharing genuine concern that the situation could spiral before fight night even arrives.
Speaking on the Ariel Helwani Show, Helwani drew a direct line between the current feud and a short list of feuds where the personal nature of the exchanges crossed into uncomfortable territory.
āI believe that there have been three fights, maybe four, max, where the trash talk has gotten so personal that itās sort of uncomfortable for some to digest,ā Helwani said. āThe first one, you can make the case Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva. The second one, you can make the case Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov. The third one, which is the one that Iām sort of like saying maybe, maybe not, but I think you could put it in that category, was Colby Covington vs. Kamaru Usman.
āThis would be the fourth. And I would say not since Khabib have we seen trash talk that, like, talked about religion, ethnicities, things of that nature, and so when heās talking about these things, heās saying these things to a guy who, like, doesnāt mess around, he doesnāt mess around,ā he added. ā⦠I just hope that they are truly ready for something very bad to happen next week. And what I mean by very bad ā obviously, Iām not talking about like a death, or someone gets shot. Like this could get so inflammatory that the fight gets called off, like thereās a brawl.ā
Q&A
What did Ariel Helwani say about UFC 328's main event?
Ariel Helwani expressed concern that the escalating trash talk between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev could lead to the cancellation of their fight at UFC 328.
Why is the feud between Strickland and Chimaev considered serious?
The feud is considered serious because Helwani categorized their trash talk as some of the most personal and heated in MMA history, drawing parallels to other notorious rivalries.
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The comments Helwani was referencing came from a media scrum ahead of UFC 328, where Strickland escalated his ongoing verbal assault on Chimaev in characteristically provocative fashion. Strickland opened by addressing Chimaevās suggestion that he would expect Strickland to run away if confronted before the fight.
āAll Iām going to do, is Iām going to pull my gun and shoot him,ā Strickland said at the scrum.
Stricklandās track record in the build-to-fights has established a pattern that makes Helwaniās concern easy to understand. In the lead-up to his UFC 297 bout against Dricus Du Plessis in Toronto, Strickland sent Du Plessis a direct message threatening to kill him. The comments caused controversy at the time but did not result in any action from the UFC.