With just hours to go for Sean Strickland’s title shot against Dricus Du Plessis, there’s one dangerous contender lurking in the background. ‘Tarzan’ addressed this middleweight challenger a few days ago and it was none other than Khamzat Chimaev. Well, Strickland was already upset with the fighting community expecting a bout between DDP and Chimaev after ‘Borz’ literally crushed the bout against Robert Whittaker, even though Strickland was the one who was promised the next title shot. But no one expected the former MW champ to attack Chimaev’s relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov again and diss the Chechen Wolf. Now, it was time for ‘Borz’ to strike back.

A Russian MMA journalist asked Chimaev if he cared about what Strickland said about him. But the undefeated middleweight contender was unflinching. He said, “He is not part of our culture and mentality and he also is a fool. You can’t help a fool not to be one.” The very next question that the journalist threw up was whether there would be trouble when he met Strickland. Well, it all depended on the circumstances was what Chimaev felt. 

But one question still remained. How did the middleweights communicate? Was it when they were training together? Chimaev kept his calm and seemed like a changed man. But a wolf can’t hide his carnivore nature. He replied, “We did not communicate, I just beat him up.” Of course, Chimaev landed in Australia to witness the main event and see who he’d fight next. 

But what exactly did Sean Strickland say that buzzed Khamzat Chimaev? There was indeed a time when the duo trained together. Well, ‘Borz’ claimed he mauled the former middleweight champion. Let’s take a look at it, shall we?

Sean Strickland attacks Khamzat Chimaev before his bout with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312

During the media day for UFC 312, one of the reporters asked Strickland about ‘Borz’. And Strickland went on a rant about the Chechen Wolf. He dissed Chimaev’s relationship with the Chechen dictator and attacked him for all the wrongs that he did. Chimaev also has a trend of going in and out of Chechnya. And ‘Tarzan’ took notes of that as well, because the Dictator got him a G-Wagon.

Strickland finally concluded, “So yeah, Chimaev, you can fight. You can fight. You’ve got a beard. But let history record it as you sir, are a whore. You fled a country, you went back, and you got buddy-buddy with a dictator and you fled again. It doesn’t matter how good of a fighter you are, you are and will always be a f— w—.”

But why exactly did Strickland get ticked off by Chimaev? According to Eric Nicksick, Strickland’s coach, he’s simply trying to build a rivalry. After all, if he wins the bout against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312, he would have to fight Chimaev next. He addressed the couple of stray rounds that Chimaev sent towards ‘Tarzan’ and the two have been going back and forth ever since. Nevertheless, the coach at Xtreme Couture wasn’t happy with the direction that Chimaev and Strickland have taken their relationship to.

What do you think of the beef between Strickland and Chimaev? Keep the conversation flowing in the debate section down below.