Khamzat Chimaev turned UFC 328 struggle week right into a three-way disagreement, dismissing Conor McGregor’s shock declare to the middleweight belt and taking a direct shot on the former two-division champion’s way of life whereas his personal feud with Sean Strickland stored constructing on-line.
Khamzat Chimaev Responds to Conor McGregor’s UFC 328 Middleweight Title Declare
McGregor posted that he was excited for the Newark card “with my 185lb UFC title on the road,” and Chimaev answered at media day with a blunt response: “He misplaced his belt 10 years in the past,” earlier than including that McGregor ought to “come off the medicine” and cease consuming “Correct one thing” on a regular basis.
The trade landed in the course of an actual title struggle week. UFC 328 is about for Might 9 at Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey, the place Chimaev will make the primary protection of the UFC middleweight title towards former champion Sean Strickland. Chimaev enters the bout unbeaten at 15-0 and gained the belt with a unanimous determination over Dricus du Plessis in August, whereas Strickland earned the shot after a stoppage win over Anthony Hernandez and beforehand held the title after beating Israel Adesanya in 2023.
McGregor’s submit drew consideration as a result of his UFC championship historical past is at featherweight and light-weight, not middleweight. His message didn’t embrace any rationalization for why he referred to the 185-pound belt as his, which left the remark open to ridicule throughout an already heated promotion cycle. Chimaev did greater than snort it off; he additionally mentioned he can be open to combating McGregor if the Irish star returned in correct form, even mentioning boxing as an choice.
That facet story has added one other layer to a important occasion that already had sufficient friction. The unhealthy blood between Chimaev and Strickland stretches again years and has roots in coaching room stress at Excessive Couture, the place Strickland accused Chimaev of tough remedy towards much less skilled companions. By struggle week, that historical past had spilled into the same old mixture of interviews, social posts, and open insults, with each males persevering with to commerce traces because the occasion drew nearer.
So whereas UFC 328 is formally Chimaev vs. Strickland for the middleweight title, McGregor managed to shove himself into the headline stream with one submit. Chimaev made certain the reply was simply as loud, rejecting the declare, mocking McGregor’s absence from title relevance, after which pivoting again to the thought of a future struggle. For now, although, the belt on the road in Newark belongs to Chimaev, and Strickland is the person booked to attempt to take it.
