Khamzat Chimaev fires back at ‘clown’ Sean Strickland for gun threat – ‘I don’t think the guy wants a war’

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 23: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia works out for fans and media during a UFC open workout at Yas Mall on October 23, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Zuffa LLC)

Threats? Boring.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev, is set to defend his title for the first time next weekend (Sat., May 9, 2026) against heated rival, Sean Strickland, in UFC 328’s main event from inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

With less than 10 days until fight night, the trash talk has taken a wild turn. Strickland recently claimed he’d bring a gun to fight week and would use it if Chimaev and his team “tried anything,” escalating things far beyond typical pre-fight antics.

Chimaev isn’t impressed, just like his team.

“Clowns always talk,” Chimaev told media during a UFC 328 scrum in Newport Beach, Calif. “Bro, he hasn’t shot any chickens in the world, how is he going to shoot a human? I don’t think the guy wants a war outside the cage; if he wanted it, he’d be dead already…Bro, in New Jersey, this is a Muslim community, it’s my home, so I don’t think he’s going to come out with a gun there. Otherwise, there would be a lot of people in jail.”