Sean Strickland survived an attritional five-round battle against Khamzat Chimaev to win a razor-thin split decision and regain the middleweight title at UFC 328, handing the Chechen-born UAE citizen his first professional defeat in a big upset.
After a bad-tempered build-up to the bout, in which Strickland repeatedly insulted Chimaev, the two finally faced off in the cage on Saturday night. The raucous New Jersey crowd's chants of “USA!” were quickly stifled when the champion took the American to the mat early in the first round and dominated him.
Strickland, 35, turned the tables in the second, thwarting takedown attempts and spending much of the frame in top position before using his superior boxing in the third to press home his advantage, despite suffering a suspected broken nose.
Despite his overpowering wrestling advantage, Chimaev continued to stand and trade blows for much of the fourth round before returning to his grappling base, taking his opponent back to the mat in the final minute of the frame, but Strickland utilised his clever jab and movement to do just enough to convince two of the three judges to award him the pivotal fifth round. One judge had it 48-47 to Chimaev but was overruled by the other two who both had it 48-47 to Strickland.
Chimaev clearly struggled to make weight for the middleweight title contest and is now expected to move up. He left the Octagon shortly after congratulating Strickland. The 32-year-old was 15-0 and heavily favoured going into the bout. He appeared frustrated as he removed his gloves and threw them into the crowd on his way back to the dressing room.
In an expletive-laden victory speech in the octagon, Strickland paid tribute to his opponent, saying he had gone too far with his trash talk in the build-up to the fight.
“I want to tell you guys, my fans, I love you guys. I would not be where I am today without you guys, my Christian fans, my Muslim fans, my white fans, my black friends, my brown fans,” he said after regaining the crown he lost to South African Dricus du Plessis in February 2025. “I love you guys. We are all Americans, and this is the dream.”
In the co-main event, Myanmar-born Joshua Van came storming back to defeat Tatsuro Taira and retain the flyweight title, surviving his Japanese opponent's grappling attack to win by TKO in the fifth round.
The 24-year-old Van sent Taira crashing to the canvas with a thunderous right hand at the end of the second round, and the two engaged in a tremendous back-and-forth bout until Van ended it one minute and 32 seconds into the final round with an unanswered barrage of blows.
