Sean Strickland spent a day in Newport Beach, California, the current training location of Khamzat Chimaev, and publicly tagged his location throughout the day hoping to encounter Chimaev or his team. Strickland called out Chimaev for previously claiming he would "try to kill" Strickland on the street, noting he was only ten minutes from Chimaev's gym and that fighters training with Chimaev follow him on social media. Strickland stated he expected Chimaev to show up and declared himself "the last guy in America" Chimaev should mess with. The challenge adds another layer to the ongoing rivalry between the two middleweights.
