If Khamzat Chimaev is feeling any pressure going into UFC 328 he’s definitely not showing it.
Heading into his title defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on Saturday night, Chimaev brushed off Strickland’s recent remarks while taking a pointed jab at his opponent’s presence behind the scenes.
“No. Some body said they seen him like running away from hotel fast after the media,” Chimaev told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“The guy who said like going to shoot me, he going to do this, that. I don’t know why he’s still at other hotels. He was thinking no one going to control me, and the guy is not here. We control this guy.”
Chimaev (15-0) drew criticism after posting old training footage from his time at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, mainly a clip of him sparring with Strickland. Strickland responded by calling him ‘weak’ for sharing the footage, prompting Chimaev to fire back.
“I find old video, some stuff, just post that because he’s saying I spar only weak people. On the video we spar easy. Just touch sparring,” he said.
“It’s not like 100% like usually I do. Because he said he doesn’t want to spar hard, and when I start to hit hard (he was like) coach Eric, this guy starting punch hard. He had some problems with his coach Eric too because I punch him hard.”
Chimaev didn’t hold back when addressing what he sees as misleading comments coming from Strickland about their time training together. The undefeated champion insisted those who were actually in the room know the truth behind their sessions.
“This guy lie so much. It’s crazy. Ask the people who’s been in the gym. Ask his friends, if the guys is real, they’re going to answer for that,” he said.
Despite the heat surrounding Saturday night’s bout, Chimaev isn’t taking the fight personally. For him, it’s not about silencing Strickland or even defending the title, it’s simply about doing his job.
“Doesn’t matter for me. I just came here (to) work. Make money, beat somebody, and if it’s Sean, it’s Sean. (If) not Sean we’re going to beat somebody else. I don’t care about that sh*t, you know,” he said.
“He doing his clown sh*t, so why should I care about it?”
During a recent appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast, the middleweight champion said he isn’t concerned with staying undefeated in the UFC. Instead, his focus is on doing big things and taking on the biggest names available.
“Want to go big fights. Alex Pereira or if you’re going to lose, going to come down. Big fight too, big name,” he told Cageside Press.
“If not, I go to heavyweight, but maybe there as well. I need big names, big money, I came here to do big things. Not just stay here (and) take the easy fights.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Khamzat Chimaev above. He defends his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on Saturday night.
