UFC 328 fight week: Extra security expected plus bonus press conference

Sean Strickland will attempt to regain the middleweight title this weekend when he faces undefeated champion Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328.

The 185-pound grudge match on May 9 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the tension between the two main event athletes has steadily gotten more intense.

The middleweight title has changed hands five times over the past four years and the Chimaev era began in the middle of last year when he controlled Dricus Du Plessis for 25 minutes on his way to winning gold.

Chimaev’s performance to win the belt, although dominant, received plenty of criticism because of its lack of action and Strickland is on record saying he doesn’t appreciate Chimaev’s wrestling-first style of fighting.

Saturday’s headliners are expected to be intense before, during, and potentially even after they step into the cage. 

The UFC is returning to Newark for the fourth year in a row. The most recent time was for UFC 316 when Merab Dvalishvili submitted Sean O’Malley 11 months ago.

Strickland vs. Chimaev isn’t the only notable matchup on the card and overall, UFC 328 fight week could end up being rather eventful.

Below is what you need to know ahead of the anticipated card:

Why such bad blood between Strickland, Chimaev?

The pair previously trained together at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas in years past, however their time on the mats together didn’t blossom into a friendship.

Far from it.

In fact, the two fighters haven’t hesitated in taking heated personal shots at the other with the verbal barbs escalating in recent weeks. The UFC has seen past grudge matches spill outside the cage and are taking measures to ensure it doesn’t happen this week at UFC 328.

The most notorious incident was when “Notorious” Conor McGregor was jumped by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team in the cage following their UFC 229 lightweight title fight in Las Vegas in 2018.

This past November at UFC 322 in New York, several members of Nurmagomedov’s and Islam Makhachev’s team — most notably UFC lightweight Magomed Zaynukov and former UFC fighter Abubakar Nurmagomedov — were involved in a massive brawl in the stands at Madison Square Garden when they jumped former McGregor teammate Dillon Danis.

UFC 328’s headliners aren’t strangers to these situations either. Chimaev was involved in a backstage altercation ahead of UFC 279 in 2022 — a card that changed last-minute partly because Chimaev was overweight — and Stickland attacked Du Plessis in the crowd at UFC 296 (at which neither was competing) in December of 2023 roughly one month before their heated championship matchup at UFC 297.

“We’re going to beef up security and law enforcement, all of it. Hotels, bumping into each other, you know, all that kind of stuff,” UFC president Dana White said in an April interview with Spinnin’ Backfist. 

White added UFC brass were even planning on having Strickland and Chimaev staying in separate hotels to limit their potential interactions during fight week.

Is the co-main also a grudge match?

The short answer is: No. The slightly longer answer is: No, but it shouldn’t impact the quality of the fight whatsoever.

Reigning men’s flyweight titleholder Joshua Van and challenger Tatsuro Taira aren’t known for trash talk and have shown high levels of respect for each other. They are known for their exciting fighting styles and stylistically this should be a fast-paced title fight.

UFC’s 328’s co-feature was originally supposed to take place less than a month ago at UFC 327 in Miami, however Van was dealing with an undisclosed injury, so his first 125-pound title defence against Taira was postponed and moved to the New Jersey card instead. Van initially won the title in December when former champion Alexandre Pantoja sustained a fluke arm injury in the opening minute of their fight.

What does the rest of the card look like?

UFC 328 is set to go forward with 13 bouts but former 205-pound titleholder Jan Blachowicz won’t be on the card. Blachowicz withdrew from a scheduled rematch with Bogdan Guskov after undergoing successful knee surgery a few weeks ago. The pair fought to a majority draw at UFC 323 in December and an immediate rematch was booked.

In addition to the main event middleweights, two of the most highly touted 185-pound prospects, Ateba Gautier and Baisangur Susurkaev, are featured in separate bouts on the preliminary card.

There’s also a pair of pivotal welterweight matchups that could shake up the contender rankings. Sean Brady faces Joaquin Buckley on the main card in a classic grappler vs. striker style clash, while former Bellator champ Yaroslav Amosov looks to make it two in a row in the UFC when he faces former lightweight standout Joel Alvarez on the prelims.

Below is the projected bout order for UFC 328 (subject to change):

MAIN CARD

-- Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland (five rounds for middleweight title)

-- Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira (five rounds for men’s flyweight title)

-- Alexander Volkov vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta

-- Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley

-- Bobby “King” Green vs. Jeremy Stephens

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Ateba Gautier vs. Osman Diaz

-- Grant Dawson vs. Mateusz Rebecki

-- Joel Alvarez vs. Yaroslav Amosov

-- Jim Miller vs. Jared Gordon

-- Roman Kopylov vs. Marco Tulio

-- Pat Sabatini vs. William Gomis

-- Baisangur Susurkaev vs. Djorden Santos

-- Clayton Carpenter vs. Jose Ochoa

What else is happening during fight week?

Sportsnet's Aaron Bronsteter and former UFC fighter Diana Belbita are on site in New Jersey providing coverage throughout the week, so stay tuned to Sportsnet.ca for one-on-one fighter interviews and other content.

Media Day, May 6: Official media events begin Wednesday when participating athletes speak with gathered reporters in Morristown, N.J.

Pre-fight press conference, May 7: The four championship contenders from UFC 328 are scheduled to participate on Thursday at the Prudential Center. There is expected to be extra security present to ensure Strickland and Chimaev do not get physical two days prior to their fight. The event is open to the public and will be available to stream live on Sportsnet+ beginning at approximately 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.

Official weigh-in, May 8: Fighters hit the scale Friday morning as they attempt to make weight. Chimaev and Strickland must weigh no more than 185 pounds for their title fight to be made official, while Van and Taira must weigh no more than 125 pounds. All fighters competing in non-title matchups are given a one-pound allowance, meaning other middleweights on the card can weigh as much as 186 pounds.

UFC Freedom 250 press conference, May 8: Friday will also see the 14 fighters scheduled to compete at the White House in June step onto the podium in New Jersey to promote the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 card. This will be available to stream live on Sportsnet+ beginning at approximately 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.

Ceremonial weigh-in, May 8: Immediately following the UFC Freedom 250 press conference, the stage will clear and then the UFC 328 fighters will walk out to pose on the scale for fans and face off with their opponent one last time before Saturday’s fights. This will be available to stream live on Sportsnet+ beginning at approximately 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT.

The fights, May 9: Live preliminary card coverage will begin on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT with red-hot knockout artist Ateba Gautier facing Ozzy Diaz in the featured prelim. The pay-per-view main card it set to start at 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT available to order through Sportsnet+.

Post-fight press conferences, May 9: Once the event has concluded, fans can stay tuned to Sportsnet+ to watch a selection of winning fighters and UFC president Dana White answer questions from gathered media.