Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t regret kicking Sean Strickland on his shin during their UFC 328 face-off on Thursday. Instead, the 32-year-old undefeated middleweight champion has defended his actions. After the event, the Chechen native appeared in an interview with Adam Zubayraev, where he explained that he kicked ‘Tarzan’ to protect his parents. 

“If I let him keep talking, he [was] gonna speak about my mom, dad, everything. I had to stop him,” Chimaev said. “If somebody tries to do that, it has to get back.”

It’s impossible to prove whether Sean Strickland would have crossed that line, but from what was said during the presser, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Strickland went heavy on Chimaev’s background, repeatedly calling him a “Chechen whore,” “p—sy,” “b—ch,” and “dog.” Chimaev fired back aggressively, calling Strickland a “crying” coward and scumbag with “mental problems,” invoking his troubled childhood and abusive father.

The back-and-forth lasted for around an incredible 30 minutes before they faced off. And after the kicking incident, at least 10 guards and armed police personnel had to intervene to stop things from escalating further. UFC CEO Dana White, who was caught in the middle of it, later ranked it behind only Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier.

The pair are now finally set to face each other inside the cage on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark for Chimaev’s first title defense. And Strickland has previously claimed that, win or lose, the bad blood between them can’t be settled inside the octagon alone. That means the rivalry may not end when the fight does, as tensions could still boil over afterward.

Despite that, though, something surprising happened during the weigh-ins.

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland avoided a confrontation during weigh-ins

After nearly breaking into an all-out brawl, everyone expected sparks to fly once more during the weigh-ins for UFC 328. UFC officials had even increased security presence around the weigh-in area to prevent any further incidents. Both men came in on Friday morning for the weigh-ins in Newark. 

However, surprisingly, no altercation or exchanges were reported from the event. Strickland weighed in first at the middleweight limit of 185 pounds, while Chimaev arrived more than an hour later to officially make weight for his first title defense. 

A lack of altercation might be because Chimaev appeared visibly exhausted during his late appearance, struggling as he stepped onto the scale and declining to pose afterward. In any case, with both fighters making weight successfully, nothing is stopping them from colliding on Saturday night.

With such a chaotic buildup, the fight is expected to be an entertaining affair. However, Khamzat Chimaev is often branded boring—do you think the trend will follow on Saturday night?