Khamzat Chimaev turnedUFC 328fight week into a three-way war of words, dismissing Conor McGregor’s surprise claim to the middleweight belt and taking a direct shot at the former two-division champion’s lifestyle while his own feud with Sean Strickland kept building online.
McGregorpostedthat he was excited for the Newark card “with my 185lb UFC title on the line,” and Chimaev answered at media day with a blunt response: “He lost his belt 10 years ago,” before adding that McGregor should “come off the drugs” and stop drinking “Proper something” all the time.
Khamzat Chimaev reacts to Conor McGregor saying the#UFC328main event is for "my 185lbs title.""He lost his belt 10 years ago. This guy should come off drugs and drinking all the time."pic.twitter.com/xzSa8lawpx
The exchange landed in the middle of a real title fight week. UFC 328 is set for May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where Chimaev will make the first defense of the UFC middleweight title against former championSean Strickland. Chimaev enters the bout unbeaten at 15-0 and won the belt with a unanimous decision overDricus du Plessisin August, while Strickland earned the shot after a stoppage win over Anthony Hernandez and previously held the title after beating Israel Adesanya in 2023.
McGregor’s post drew attention because his UFC championship history is at featherweight and lightweight, not middleweight. His message did not include any explanation for why he referred to the 185-pound belt as his, which left the comment open to ridicule during an already heated promotion cycle. Chimaev did more than laugh it off; he also said he would be open to fighting McGregor if the Irish star returned in proper shape, even mentioning boxing as an option.
That side story has added another layer to a main event that already had enough friction. The bad blood between Chimaev and Strickland stretches back years and has roots in training room tension at Extreme Couture, where Strickland accused Chimaev of rough treatment toward less experienced partners. By fight week, that history had spilled into the usual mix of interviews, social posts, and open insults, with both men continuing to trade lines as the event drew closer.
So while UFC 328 is officially Chimaev vs. Strickland for the middleweight title, McGregor managed to shove himself into the headline stream with one post. Chimaev made sure the answer was just as loud, rejecting the claim, mocking McGregor’s absence from title relevance, and then pivoting back to the idea of a future fight. For now, though, the belt on the line in Newark belongs to Chimaev, and Strickland is the man booked to try to take it.
Source: LowKickMMA.com
