Strickland spent day in Newport Beach near Chimaev's gym, challenging him

Sean Strickland spent an entire day in Newport Beach, California, where Khamzat Chimaev is currently training, hoping to confront him. Strickland repeatedly tagged his location on social media stories, noting he was just ten minutes from Chimaev's gym and that fighters who train with Chimaev follow him and would have seen the posts. This came after Chimaev reportedly said he would try to kill Strickland on the street. Strickland stated he expected Chimaev to show up but was ultimately disappointed, declaring himself "the last guy in America you should mess with."