Sean Strickland issues apology as punter loses eye-watering bet on Khamzat Chimaev fight

Sean Strickland stole the microphone to apologise to fans after his shock win over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328.

In the early hours of Sunday morning UFC middleweight champion Chimaev looked to defend his belt from fierce rival and former champion Strickland in the main event of UFC 328 in Newark, New Jersey.

Heading in to the bout tensions were higher than ever as the two men made it abundantly clear that they despised each other, forcing UFC boss Dana White to hire extra security throughout fight week.

But once the cage doors closed, it was Strickland that secured the surprise win after a fight of the year contendor led to the American reclaiming his title via split decision, costing some punters a breathtaking amount of money.

And as soon as commentator Joe Rogan arrived in the cage to interview the new champion, Strickland grabbed the microphone to issue a direct apology to UFC fans for his behaviour in the build-up to the fight.

“I just want to apologise to my American fans, to my Muslim fans, and my Christian fans,” Strickland said during his post-fight interview.

“I went too f***ing hard, I’ll admit it. I respect all you guys.

“Chechens are great fighters. They’re savage. He’s a f***ing savage.

“I should be a better f***ing example, but I try to sell these fights for you f***ers.”

Ahead of the fight Strickland, who has made a career in the UFC out of shocking comments outside of the octagon as well as his performances inside it, a coward and several other offensive names relating to Chimaev's nationality and religion.

But just seconds before the fight started it became clear that the two men had the utmost respect for each other, with Chimaev even wrapping the middleweight belt around his opponent's waist once the result was confirmed.

UFC punters lose MILLIONS during Khamzat Chimaev v Sean Strickland

But perhaps the people that Strickland may need to apologise the most to are some of the fans that bet eye-watering amounts of money on the reigning champion, who was a heavy favourite, to defend his belt.

During the fight legendary UFC commentator Jon Anik revealed that shortly before the fight two punters had placed huge bets of $600,000 (£440,108) and $1.4million (£1.03m) on Chimaev to win the fight.

Of course, the Russian-Emirati champion failed to do so, narrowly missing out on a 48-47 47-48 47-48 split decision, costing the punters a brutal loss.

However, neither fan lost as much money as one punter who lost a massive $1.8m (£1.32) betting on Chimaev to come away with the win over Strickland, representing almost their entire lifetime profit and loss on the betting account.