Chimaev And Strickland Pulled Apart

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland came face-to-face for the final time ahead of UFC 328, and security had their work cut out for them as the two middleweights were kept apart at the ceremonial weigh-in.

The pair have spent months trading verbals in the build-up to Saturday's title fight, and the tension spilled over at Thursday's pre-fight press conference before nearly boiling over again on stage. Despite speculation that the UFC might skip the faceoff entirely given the week's volatility, both fighters got their moment — and the crowd got the spectacle they came for.

Chimaev defends the UFC middleweight title for the first time on Saturday night. He claimed the belt with a dominant performance over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319, and enters the contest as a significant favourite. Strickland earned his way back to a title shot the hard way — finishing Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston to halt the latter's momentum. The following clip shows the pair being separated, as things got heated

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TdrQLg5Msmk