Khamzat Chimaev called Sean Strickland’s bluff on shooting him ahead of UFC 328 this weekend. 

Chimaev will make the first defense of his UFC Middleweight Championship on Saturday against a former champion in Strickland, in a rivalry that has grown as the weeks have gone on. Strickland has called Chimaev a terrorist and threatened to shoot him should their rivalry ever spill outside of the UFC. 

But speaking ahead of the fight in a media scrum (via “MMA Junkie”), Chimaev welcomed the threats with little care. 

“Let him come,” he said. “I think they took him to some other hotels, or maybe he do [that] himself. I don’t know. I try to find the guy, that’s not so much personal. The guy just talk too much.”

He was pushed specifically as it pertains to the shooting threats and if he was concerned anything would happen before the fight. 

“I don’t think it’s possible to happen because they don’t let me see this guy, man. I don’t know. Where is he? I’ve been here three days in the lobby and the guy said he’s gonna shoot me. So, let’s go do that. I would be happy to die.”

Chimaev maintained that the increased security was for Strickland’s safety rather than his own, but as the questioning went on he let out a little bit of animosity for his opponent: “Do you think I care what he says? I don’t know, when his time comes to die, I will be happy.”

When asked if there were any concerns that their animosity could spread to those in attendance and around the event, he said, “I don’t need to control the people. They need to control themselves. So I’m here focused for my training, for my camp, take my money.”