Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev have a history. Once training partners at Xtreme Couture, the two middleweights have since gone from grappling on the mats to trading verbal haymakers through the media. Their personalities couldn’t be more different—Strickland, the brash, unfiltered brawler, and Chimaev, the cold-blooded wrecking machine.

Now, ahead of UFC 312, Strickland has fired yet another shot. This time, he wasn’t talking about ‘Borz’s fighting skills or his title ambitions—he took aim at his character. And in classic Strickland fashion, he didn’t hold back!

Khamzat Chimaev takes a unique approach in his response to Sean Strickland’s “scam” allegations

Sean Strickland, never one to mince words, used his UFC 312 media appearance to go on an unprovoked rant about Khamzat Chimaev. “We need to talk about Mr. Chimaev,” he said, setting the stage for what came next. He dismissed the hype surrounding the undefeated fighter and questioned his integrity.

Then came the bombshell. According to Strickland, “Now he’s hiding out … and now what does he do? He has a Bitcoin f— scam and he scams all of his fans…”

‘Tarzan’ didn’t stop there. He even alleged that he himself had been approached with a similar deal as he stated, “I had the same Bitcoin scam offer to me. It was like $100,000-$200,000. I was like, f—– you, dude. I’m not going to scam my fans. I don’t need money that bad. But that’s what Chimaev did.”

If Strickland was expecting a heated response, Chimaev had other plans. Instead of engaging in a war of words, the undefeated middleweight chose a different weapon—humor. Chimaev took to social media and posted a photo of Strickland’s new mustache look ahead of UFC 312. Accompanying it? A series of laughing emojis. No long-winded response. No counterattack. Just pure, unfiltered amusement.

For now, Sean Strickland has bigger things to worry about. He’s set to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 312. And the champion has already made it clear that he would have rather faced ‘Borz’ instead of re-matching Strickland!

‘Stillknocks’ takes a jab at Strickland getting a title shot over ‘deserving’ Chimaev

Dricus Du Plessis isn’t just defending his title at UFC 312—he’s settling unfinished business. But here’s the twist: he would have rather faced Khamzat Chimaev instead of running it back with Sean Strickland.

For the fans hoping to see Chimaev’s relentless grappling tested over five rounds, Du Plessis was right there with them. The champion confessed during an interview with ESPN, “I would have preferred the Khamzat fight, I think he deserved it more even though he didn’t have as many fights. If you look at Strickland’s last fight against [Paulo] Costa, that doesn’t warrant a title fight.”

It wasn’t just about Chimaev’s unbeaten streak—it was the way he dismantled Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 that had Du Plessis convinced. His dominant win over ‘The Reaper’ marked his ninth first-round finish and cemented him at No. 3 in the middleweight rankings.

As such, Du Plessis further went on to state, “I thought [the Khamzat fight] was going to happen. I thought it would have been great for me; I would have loved that. It got me super excited.”

But the UFC had other plans. Now, he’s left to prove a point against Strickland. UFC 312 is just around the corner, and while the middleweight belt is on the line, the bigger picture looms large. If Strickland wins, does Khamzat Chimaev finally get his chance? And if Du Plessis retains, will the UFC give him the fight he really wanted? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!