UFC beefs up security as tensions heighten between Strickland and Chimaev ahead of title fight

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Sean Strickland stretched championship fight trash talk well beyond the usual mechanisms to sell a UFC card so that when he both threatened to shoot Khamzat Chimaev and labeled him a terrorist, there was only one way for their first face off to go down. Violence. Chimaev whipped his leg around UFC boss Dana White and kicked Strickland, igniting the heavy security that circled the fighters to step in quickly and break up the melee before anyone snapped the traditional stare down photo. Maybe only a referee can stop what will happen when Chimaev puts his middleweight crown on the line against the former champ in Strickland on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 328 in New Jersey. Strickland, who has gained notoriety for his controversial remarks, last month threatened to shoot Chimaev if the champ tried to jump him outside the cage. Chimaev, the undefeated fighter of Chechen ethnicity who fights under the United Arab Emirates banner, had tried to rise above the threats he could be in mortal danger outside the cage. "I tried to find the guy," Chimaev said. "I think they took him to some other hotel. They don't let me see this guy, man. I don't know where he is. I've been here three days in the lobby and that guy says he's going to shoot me. So, let's go. I would be happy to die." The 35-year-old Strickland, who won the 185-pound belt in September 2023 and lost it in his very first title defense, also repeatedly called Chimaev a "terrorist," because of his ties to Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. Chimaev shrugged off the accusation until the fighters shared the stage for the fight press conference and gleefully leaned into the stereotype. "I am terrorist for him," Chimaev said. "I'm going to take off his head. I'm going to kill him. Allahu Akbar! Woo!" Chimaev is a Muslim known to shout "Allahu Akbar," which essentially means Allah is the greatest, a religious phrase which has only enraged Strickland, who has said "we live in a world right now where we're forced to conform to ideologies and beliefs that don't fit America." Chimaev and Strickland were tailed by police and additional security as they trekked from one media stop to the next this week inside a New Jersey hotel. UFC beefed up security in hotels and promised increased safeguards inside the Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils, to diffuse heightened tensions among the fighters, their camps, and fans who have taken sides in the feud. Sensitivity isn't UFC's strong suit, and White told The Associated Press in March 2025 he was not in the business of sanctioning his fighters for their beliefs. Chimaev, who beat Dricus du Plessis to win the belt at UFC 319 last August, is no innocent in the bad blood between the two and posted a throwback photo of a long-haired Strickland and called him a girl. On an earlier social media post, Chimaev wrote of Strickland, "You can cry that's okey for, your father make you a girl." Strickland has stated through the years that his father, who died years ago, was an abusive alcoholic who made the fighter's childhood a living hell. "My dad kind of made me violent because he was such a weak man," Strickland said. "Growing up, my dad was like the boogeyman. He was the scariest thing in my life, watching him beat up my mom, throw beer bottles at me. To me, my dad almost made me a little bit like sociopathic, more like a sociopath. Probably did more harm than good." Strickland said he was a high-school dropout — a self-described "loser" — when he decided in his late teens to finally stand up to his father and head-butted him during a heated argument involving his mother. Another title fight and heavyweights are on the rest of the card Joshua Van (16-2) defends his 125-pound championship against Tatsuro Taira (18-1) in another title bout in UFC's 11th stop in Newark, New Jersey. The 24-year-old from Myanmar has won six straight fights and nine of 10 since he signed with UFC — no win bigger than his championship victory in December against Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323. In what appeared to be a freak accident, Pantoja injured his left shoulder just after throwing a right roundkick to Van's head. But as Van blocked the kick, Pantoja used his left arm to brace his fall, but his arm buckled, and he immediately grabbed it and waved to referee Herb Dean to stop the bout at 26 seconds. Quirky finish or not, it goes down as a win in the record book. "It got people talking," Van said, "so I think it's a good thing." Van and Taira mark the first time UFC has a title fight with both competitors born in the 2000s. Other bouts of note on the main card include Alexander Volkov against Waldo Cortes Acosta in a heavyweight battle; Sean Brady against Joaquin Buckley in a welterweight bout and Jim Miller, fighting for the first time since his teenage son beat cancer, is set for his 47th career UFC fight when he takes on Jared Gordon in a lightweight bout.