Ray Sefo says Sean Strickland’s hostile build-up with Khamzat Chimaev was business, not a permanent personal feud. According to Strickland’s trainer, the newly crowned UFC middleweight champion believed he had to turn up the volume to secure the title shot.
Strickland spent the lead-up to UFC 328 trading sharp comments with Chimaev, feeding a rivalry that some fans later questioned after the two men embraced once the fight was over. Sefo says there is a simple explanation for the change in tone: Strickland needed to make the fight happen.
“Sean is actually a really good guy,” Kickboxing great Sefo said in an exclusive interview ahead of SENSHI 33. “He just gets, sometimes he gets ahead of himself, right?”
Ray Sefo Explains Why Sean Strickland Turned Up the Heat on Khamzat Chimaev
The comments came after Strickland upset Chimaev by split decision to regain the UFC middleweight belt. The May 9 main event at Prudential Center in Newark went the full five rounds, with Strickland winning 48-47 on two cards while Chimaev received a 48-47 score on the third. It was Chimaev’s first professional defeat, and Strickland’s second run as UFC champion at 185 pounds.
The trash talk became one of the main talking points before the fight. Strickland’s approach was harsh and often personal, and he kept the pressure on through fight week. Yet when the result was official, the hostility disappeared. Chimaev put the championship belt around Strickland after the decision, and the pair shared a calmer moment inside the cage.
For Sefo, that did not mean the promotion was a lie. He says it was Strickland’s way of forcing attention toward a fight he wanted.
“And in the last fight against Khamzat Chimaev, he said, ‘Listen, that was the only way I could promote the fight,’” Sefo explained. “It was the only way to get that fight was to be outlandish.”
Strickland has never presented himself as a conventional promoter. His media appearances tend to swing between blunt jokes, heated remarks and unfiltered opinions. In this case, Sefo believes the behavior had a purpose. Chimaev entered the contest as the unbeaten champion and betting favorite, while Strickland needed a hook.
Sefo believes Chimaev has a fair argument for an immediate rematch, but only if he intends to remain at middleweight.
“I think if Khamzat decides to stay at the division, then I think he might deserve the, you know, the rematch,” Sefo said. “If he stays. If he goes up a weight division, then I’m not 100% sure who’s next.”
Sefo was speaking before SENSHI 33, an event available on DAZN that features an eight-man light heavyweight Grand Prix.