Khamzat Chimaev Goes Viral for Kicking Sean Strickland During UFC 328 Faceoff
The stage is set for Saturday night in Las Vegas, where Khamzat Chimaev (15-0) will defend his middleweight title against the polarizing Sean Strickland (30-7) in the main event of UFC 328.
There's rarely a dull moment when Strickland is involved, and that was once again the case during Thursday's faceoff between the two fighters, who clearly have no love lost for one another.
After an extended back-and-forth on the microphone, Chimaev and Strickland exchanged a few final words while standing face-to-face.
The tension quickly escalated, as Chimaev appeared frustrated and suddenly threw a powerful front kick that connected with Strickland's lower body, forcing security to step in and separate the two fighters.
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"I love this," one fan wrote.
"I don't care what anyone says, this is the most hyped fight since Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov. These guys genuinely hate each other," another fan added.
Another person commented, "Kick looked nasty… but Strickland flinched? Wild."
"It's reminding me of Conor vs. Khabib, only much worse lmao," another fan shared.
One more fan wrote, "This was so inevitable… still gotta back Sean to win the fight tomorrow."
This will mark Chimaev's first defense of the middleweight championship after defeating Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 last August.
Strickland previously lost the title to Du Plessis at UFC 297 before falling to him again in their rematch at UFC 312 during Du Plessis' first title defense.
However, Strickland enters Saturday night's bout coming off a dominant victory over Anthony Hernandez, helping put him right back into title contention.
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 5:38 PM.