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Dana White of the UFC

UFC president Dana White gave his list of the best all-time UFC feuds ahead of the grudge match between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.

On Saturday, in the main event of UFC 328, Chimaev and Strickland meet for the UFC middleweight title. These two former training partners hate each other’s guts, which should hopefully lead to one of the best fights of the year when they get locked into the cage this weekend. At Thursday’s press conference, things got heated when Chimaev kicked Strickland, but fortunately, there were no injuries to either party, and the fight will go on.

Dana White Reveals His List of Best All-Time UFC Feuds

Ahead of the Chimaev vs. Strickland grudge match at UFC 328, White was asked what his top feuds all-time in the sport were. According to White, Chimaev vs. Strickland has already entered his top three.

“(The press conference) was what I expected. It was great. Highly anticipated fight, finally going to happen on Saturday. All that really matters is that the fight is a good fight. But sometimes, guys are very respectful, and they’re chill and whatever. And sometimes they’re today. The great thing about press conferences is there’s a wide range. It’s not all the same shit all the time. But for this one, this is one of the worst cases of bad blood ever. I put it No. 2 on the all-time (UFC feuds) list,” White told Nina Drama on Kick (via MMAFighting.com).

When asked what the rest of his top three looked like, White mentioned that he would put Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at No. 1 and Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier at No. 2, while also naming two honorable mentions.

“Conor-Khabib No. 1. And the only reason Conor-Khabib is No. 1 is Brooklyn, and then what happened after the fight. We made some mistakes, obviously, leading up to that fight and after that fight. And we won’t do that again,” White said.

“(Jones vs. Cormier) is a good one. That’s a good point. Complete fistfight in the middle of the MGM Grand. Actually, you’re right. That’s probably No. 2. I forgot there was a fist fight in the lobby of the MGM while people were checking into their hotel. I would put (Chimaev vs. Strickland) at 3. I would put Rampage (Jackson) and Rashad (Evans) up there. Tito (Ortiz) and (Ken Shamrock) would have to be up there.”

Sean Strickland is a Heavy Underdog to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328

When the cage doors lock on Saturday night, and Strickland takes on Chimaev, he will enter the bout as a heavy underdog.

According to the latest betting odds, Strickland is a +400 underdog, while Chimaev is a huge -550 favorite. Clearly, the oddsmakers and the betting public aren’t giving Strickland much of a chance in this one. But he has pulled off several upsets during his UFC career, including when he beat Israel Adesanya in 2023 to claim the UFC middleweight title, and even in his last fight, when he knocked out Anthony Hernandez to get this title shot against Chimaev. So, while you have to favor the champ to retain his belt, you can’t completely count out Strickland from winning this grudge match.