Nate Diaz calls Sean Strickland ‘Soft’ Over Fake Beef with Khamzat Chimaev
Nate Diaz has sharp words for Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev. He calls their rivalry fake ahead of his own fight. This comes days after UFC 328.
Strickland and Chimaev traded insults for months before their middleweight title fight on May 9, 2026, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Topics included religion, family, and home life. At a press conference, Chimaev kicked Strickland in the shin despite armed police nearby. Security pulled them apart as words turned physical. The UFC placed them in separate hotels and added metal detectors at one fighter hotel. Strickland blamed Chimaev’s large entourage for the extra measures.
Strickland won by split decision with scores of 48-47, 47-48, 48-47. Chimaev controlled the first round with takedowns and submissions. Strickland rallied with strikes and takedown defense over five rounds. This marked Chimaev’s first loss in 16 fights and gave Strickland his second middleweight title. The fighters hugged in the Octagon right after the decision. Strickland later called Chimaev a warrior on social media. He said the trash talk served to sell the fight.
Nate Diaz Calls out Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev
Diaz spoke on Ariel Helwani’s show during a faceoff with Mike Perry for MVP MMA 1. The event hits Netflix on May 16, 2026, in Inglewood, California. It’s a five-round welterweight bout under Unified Rules in a hexagon cage.
“It’s soft. They were faking the funk. They were fcking acting like crazy and talking all this sht to each other and then hugging and showing love like some bitches. Fake fcking puppets. I’m fcking cool off that sht. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I was bullshtting everybody.”
Diaz contrasted this with his matchup against Perry, a BKFC veteran. He stressed no need for staged drama. They respect each other enough to skip the act.
Perry, known as the King of Violence, steps back to MMA from bare-knuckle. The card also features Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. MVP aims to draw viewers with big names on streaming on Netflix. Diaz keeps his approach simple: show up, fight real.
