Sean Strickland was in Newport Beach, California, where Khamzat Chimaev is currently training, and publicly tagged his location throughout the day in apparent response to comments Chimaev allegedly made about trying to kill him on the street. Strickland noted he was only ten minutes from Chimaev's gym and that fighters training with Chimaev follow him on social media and would have seen his location tags. Strickland stated he expected Chimaev to show up and warned him he was the last guy in America he should be threatening. The visit represents escalating tensions between the two middleweights ahead of their scheduled fight.






