The bad blood between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland has officially entered historic territory, says UFC CEO Dana White.
On Saturday, Chimaev and Strickland are set to collide for the middleweight title in the UFC 328 main event, but the road to fight night has been anything but calm. For weeks, both men have traded heated insults across the media, taking shots at everything from personal backgrounds to beliefs, with tensions finally exploding at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference when Chimaev kicked Strickland during their faceoff.
Ahead of UFC 328, White revealed his personal ranking of the biggest feuds in UFC history and surprisingly placed Chimaev vs. Strickland at No. 3 all-time, putting their rivalry alongside some of the most iconic grudge matches the sport has ever seen. According to White, the feud is real, deeply personal, and far beyond the usual promotional trash talk.
“It was what I expected, White told Nina Drama on her Kick stream on Thursday when asked about the press conference. “It was great. Highly anticipated fight, finally going to happen on Saturday. … “All that really matters is that the fight is a good fight. But sometimes, guys are very respectful, and they’re chill and whatever. And sometimes they’re today. The great thing about press conferences is there’s a wide range. It’s not all the same shit all the time. But for this one, this is one of the worst cases of bad blood ever. I put it No. 2 on the all-time list.”
“Conor-Khabib No. 1,” White said. “And the only reason Conor-Khabib is No. 1 is Brooklyn, and then what happened after the fight. … We made some mistakes, obviously, leading up to that fight and after that fight. And we won’t do that again.”
Those two are far from the only feuds in UFC history, though, and as White was asked to offer his top five, he then changed his mind about Chimaev and Strickland taking the silver medal, instead bumping them down to third place, behind the seemingly never-ending beef between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
“[Jones and Cormier] is a good one,” White said when prompted to remember their many altercations. “That’s a good point. Complete fistfight in the middle of the MGM Grand. Actually, you’re right. … That’s probably No. 2. I forgot there was a fist fight in the lobby of the MGM while people were checking into their hotel.
“I would put [Chimaev vs. Strickland] at 3. I would put Rampage [Jackson] and Rashad [Evans] up there. Tito [Ortiz] and [Ken Shamrock] would have to be up there.
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Of course, the weekend is far from over, and there’s always the chance that Chimaev and Strickland will continue to fan the flames of their feud and rise in the rankings. But after the altercation during their faceoff on Thursday, White believes that’s as bad as things will get this week.
“I had his arm, Khamzat’s arms, and I didn’t think he’d kick him,” White said. “I didn’t think he was going to do anything. I thought it was going to be a lot of yelling and back-and-forth. “That’s the most we will fail this weekend. That’s the most we will fail.”
Unlike many modern fight buildups, the tension between Chimaev and Strickland has been simmering for years.
Their issues reportedly trace back to training sessions at Xtreme Couture, where both fighters later gave very different accounts of what happened behind closed doors. Since then, the relationship has only deteriorated through public callouts, insults, and repeated personal attacks.
For Dana White to rank Chimaev vs. Strickland among the top three feuds in UFC history says everything about how explosive this rivalry has become. The insults, physical altercations, and years of tension have already made this matchup unforgettable and the fight hasn’t even happened yet.
