New footage reveals what Sean Strickland said to Khamzat Chimaev right after their UFC 328 fight
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Sean Strickland made his presence felt in the lead up to his fight against Khamzat Chimaev, never shying away from speaking his mind. On Saturday night, that rivalry came to a head in a gruelling five-round contest at UFC 328. The American pulled off another surprise victory to become only the second two-time middleweight world champion, finally putting an end to their feud.
Straight after their hard-fought 25-minute battle, Strickland wasted no time in trying to move past the animosity with his old teammate. Strickland was quick to apologise before the results were read out Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images When Bruce Buffer announced that Strickland had been awarded the split decision win, not many people predicted what would come next. Chimaev took the title from Dana White and decided to wrap it around Strickland’s waist himself, in what was an incredible showing of respect, despite the harsh words the American has had for him throughout the last several months.
That, though, came after Strickland issued what seemed to be a sincere apology to ‘Borz’ apologising for the way he has carried himself throughout fight week, with the exchange caught on camera by the UFC team. “Hey, Chimaev, whatever happens I wanna apologise. I went too far and I’m sorry!
” Strickland told him immediately after the fight. Shortly afterwards on Paramount’s post-fight show, Strickland admitted he may have exaggerated their rivalry in build-up. It wasn’t a stretch given how much attention Chimaev’s rapid rise through two weight divisions had attracted.
Still, that didn’t stop him from bringing up Chimaev’s background and faith during fight week — topics that put UFC officials on edge after tensions flared between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor under similar circumstances years ago. The bout was tightly contested with many fans calling for a rematch between them. However Dana White stated this is unlikely as Chimaev told him he is done at middleweight following a difficult weight cut.