Chimaev Kicks Strickland at UFC 328 News Conference — When Is Khamzat Vs Strickland
Khamzat Chimaev kicked Sean Strickland during the UFC 328 news conference on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, turning a hostile fight-week exchange into a physical clash. The moment landed with extra weight because Chimaev is making the first defence of his UFC middleweight title against Strickland.
Before the kick, UFC security had already held Chimaev back while Strickland kept goading him. Armed police were on stage during the exchange, and security and police later escorted both fighters off in separate directions.
Strickland escalates the week
The news conference came after a week of open hostility between the fighters. Strickland had made derogatory and racist comments attacking Chimaev’s religion and heritage, and last week he threatened to shoot Chimaev if he and his team-mates confronted him in the build-up to the fight.
That backdrop explains why the UFC brought in extra security and reportedly kept the pair in separate hotels during fight week. The event had already been treated like a risk point before anyone reached the stage, and the confrontation showed that the concern was justified.
Security on the stage
Chimaev and Strickland had not even taken their seats before security stepped in again as the taunting continued. The kick followed that intervention, with police and UFC security already close enough to move fast once the exchange tipped over.
Strickland responded on social media after the news conference, writing, “exactly what I expected a coward to do.” Dana White described the rivalry as a “top-three” heated rivalry of all time in the UFC, and said of the feud, “it is what it is.”
Discipline hangs over UFC 328
The immediate fallout now sits with the UFC and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. The source says it is unlikely the UFC will take disciplinary action, but it is unclear whether the New Jersey board will punish Chimaev.
For the fight itself, the title defense in Newark remains the central sport issue, but the news conference made the rivalry impossible to separate from the bout. Chimaev’s first defense now arrives with the image of a kick, a security line, and two fighters leaving the stage in opposite directions.
