Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev have been trading verbal blows over their infamous sparring session at Xtreme Couture for years—and now, the footage is finally out in the open.

The simmering dispute has boiled over into genuine bad blood between these two top middleweights, adding an electric layer of drama to their UFC 328 main event this Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. With the 185-pound title on the line, it's not just gold at stake—it's bragging rights that have been years in the making.

Strickland is no stranger to fiery fight week antics, but it was Chimaev who unexpectedly turned up the heat by releasing clips of their controversial gym encounter. While the sparring itself was relatively uneventful, the leak served as a pointed response to Strickland's earlier jabs that Khamzat spends his time bullying amateurs rather than testing himself against top competition.

At the UFC 328 press conference, Strickland addressed the leaked footage with his trademark bluntness, claiming he had no idea cameras were rolling during what he called a simple warmup round.

"That's what I'm talking about," Strickland said, via MMA Fighting. "The guy's just a little f—king rat. One, I didn't know we were filming. Those are our warmup rounds. You're just a weak man. It's like, what is the point? We're light sparring. I mean, those shorts are a little questionable on my part. They were Amazon. It was a bad angle."

He continued, "We've only sparred once, and we did like a three-round spar. I kept telling you this. When I get to a gym, I want to spar the best guy. But he would always just go beat up the lower-level guys."

Now, the question on everyone's mind: will the next two rounds of that sparring session surface in the final 48 hours before fight night?

Regardless, the time for gym stories is almost over. Come Saturday night, Chimaev and Strickland will settle it for real, with gold hanging in the balance. Either "Borz" secures his first—and possibly last—middleweight title defense, or Strickland reclaims the 185-pound throne as a two-time champion.