Ariel Helwani warns UFC main event could be cancelled due to trash talking

Ariel Helwani has warned fans that the UFC 328 main event between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev may be cancelled.

Middleweight champion Chimaev and the outspoken Strickland are set to go toe-to-toe in the main event of UFC 328 in Newark, New Jersey, on May 10.

Ahead of the showdown, the American has already begun trash-talking, even threatening to “shoot” his opponent if things go south before fight night.

Earlier this month, the defending champion, who remains unbeaten in the UFC, said that he didn’t “want to kill a man” in the octagon before adding, “on the street it’s different – if he dies, he dies”, seemingly referring to his soon-to-be opponent.

During a media day on Wednesday, Strickland responded, claiming that a clash between the pair would result in him pulling his gun out.

The American had previously called Chimaev out over his relationship with the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, with the leader previously sanctioned by a number of nations, including the US, over human rights abuses.

On Wednesday, he claimed: “If he were to come up to me like a man, say, ‘You know what Sean, you said some things about my dad Kadyrov.’ I’m like, ‘You know what, dude? You whored yourself out, not me. I want to settle this.’ I would say let’s settle this like a man.

“But if you come up to me with three f*cking goat-f*cker Chechens that don’t speak English, I’m going to pull my gun and I’m going to shoot each and every one of you. I’ll be strapped in New Jersey too, don’t even worry about that.”

Despite his reputation, Kadyrov has previously been associated with several UFC stars, including Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.

UFC 328 cancellation warning issued

Following this week’s media day, combat sports journalist Helwani said he believes the much-anticipated UFC 328 main event could potentially be cancelled due to the build-up.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, the journalist explained that the upcoming fight was just the fourth in UFC history where trash talk has gone too far, becoming “uncomfortable” for some fans.

“The first one, you can make the case for Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva,” Helwani said.

“The second one, you can make the case for Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov. The third one, which is the one that I’m sort of saying maybe, maybe not, but I think you could put it in that category, was Colby Covington vs Kamaru Usman.

“This would be the fourth. And I would say not since Khabib have we seen trash talk that, like, has touched on religion, ethnicities and things of that nature. And so when he’s talking about these things, he’s saying them to a guy who, like, doesn’t mess around – he doesn’t mess around.

“… I just hope that they are truly ready for something very bad to happen next week. And what I mean by very bad – obviously, I’m not talking about a death or someone getting shot. This could get so inflammatory that the fight gets called off, like if there’s a brawl.”

Also on the UFC 328 card, Joshua Van defends his flyweight title against Tatsuro Taira, while Alexander Volkov takes on Waldo Cortes-Acosta.