Elevated UFC 328 security couldn't stop verbal blows – or a kick in rowdy presser
The UFC 328 press conference had an elevated security presence and a strike still slipped through.
NEWARK, N. J. – No question was asked before expletives started flowing through the airwaves at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House, riling up a rowdy crowd in the weathered NHL practice arena.
If the tension wasn't palpable enough in the minutes leading up to the athletes' appearances from behind the curtain, the rare sight of armed police officers taking center stage for the UFC 328 pre-fight news conference seemed to set the scene well for what was to come. There was no "Who's got the first question? " from UFC CEO Dana White before the babbling began.
For approximately 30 minutes, no question (and there were only a few of them) even mattered. It took next to nothing to get Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland to toss insults across the stage – all the way across the stage. Many of the words began with the letter "F," though other expletives were also popular.
"Top three all-time," White said when asked where Chimaev-Strickland ranked in the most heated UFC rivalries ever. Rather than positioning them immediately next to the podium, the UFC elected to seat the UFC 328 headliners at opposite ends of the long tables, but time and space only proved to be temporary. Sandwiched between the burly security guards and screaming middleweight rivals were flyweight champion Joshua Van and challenger Tatsuro Taira.