UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland

Sean Strickland handed Khamzat Chimaev the first loss of his career to reclaim the middleweight title at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Nobody believed he could do it again. He did it anyway.

Main Event – Sean Strickland vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Strickland entered this fight as more than a 4-to-1 underdog on most sportsbooks. Nobody gave him a real shot. Again.

Chimaev pushed forward and hit a takedown in the first 15 seconds. He got to Strickland’s back, hooked in, and spent much of round one trying to finish it from there. Strickland grabbed the wrists, survived the rear-naked choke attempts, and made it to the bell. Round one was Chimaev’s, and it was not close.

Then things shifted. Strickland recaptured control in round two, easily fending off two takedown attempts while peppering Chimaev with jabs and combinations from his trademark Philly Shell. Chimaev appeared to tire after the opening round, and that trend continued into round three, where Strickland outlanded him 43-29 in significant strikes. Most surprisingly, Chimaev failed to attempt a single takedown in round three, spending the whole frame walking into the end of Strickland’s jab.

The third and fourth rounds were contested on the feet, with Chimaev landing more power shots while Strickland had the greater output. In the fifth, Chimaev got a takedown, but Strickland worked free quickly, and the two traded on the feet with both men bleeding from their noses and giving everything they had left.

Chimaev landed 9 of 13 takedowns but only managed 6:04 of total ground control time across the whole fight. When the scorecards came back, two judges had it for Strickland, and that was enough.

Strickland said after the fight, “That motherf***er would not go back. I’m hitting him with everything, and he just keeps coming forward. Crazy. He may have broken my nose.”

In a wild moment after the decision, Chimaev strapped the belt around Strickland’s waist, burying a hatchet that previously seemed impossible to bury.

Co-Main Event – Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira

This fight was everything you want from a title fight. Taira came out with his elite grappling in round one, getting a body lock, putting Van on his back, and moving to full mount. Van fought back to guard and kept scrambling, but Taira was relentless with the takedowns and back control.

Round two, Van started to find some success on the feet, landing a big right hook before getting taken down again. Then he separated and dropped Taira with a huge overhand. He tried to finish it, but Taira wrapped him up and survived.

Back and forth it went all the way to round five. Van defended the early takedown attempts in the championship round and started connecting to the body before unloading a series of shots that brought about the stoppage.

Van said after the fight, “It feels damn good to be the champion again. I said I was going to finish him inside three rounds, and I almost did, but man, he’s a tough motherf***er.”

Full Card Recap

Main Card

• Sean Strickland def. Khamzat Chimaev — Split Decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) — UFC Middleweight Championship
• Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira — TKO (Punches), Round 5, 1:32 — UFC Flyweight Championship
• Alexander Volkov def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Sean Brady def. Joaquin Buckley — Unanimous Decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
• King Green def. Jeremy Stephens — Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1, 4:20

Preliminary Card

• Ateba Gautier def. Ozzy Diaz — KO (Punches), Round 2, 1:10
• Yaroslav Amosov def. Joel Alvarez — Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke), Round 2, 1:13
• Grant Dawson def. Mateusz Rębecki — Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 3, 4:42
• Jim Miller def. Jared Gordon — Submission (Guillotine Choke), Round 1, 3:29
• Roman Kopylov def. Marco Tulio — Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Pat Sabatini def. William Gomis — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos — Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 3, 4:12
• Jose Ochoa def. Clayton Carpenter — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

What’s Next?

Strickland is the two-time middleweight champion and did what nobody thought was possible twice in his career. He beat Adesanya when nobody believed him, and now he beat Chimaev when nobody believed him. At this point, you just stop doubting the guy.

Chimaev entered the night as one of the most dominant fighters in the sport, but now has to deal with his first career loss. He is still only 30 years old, and that fight was razor close. He will be back.

Van retained his title in a fight that ended up on many highlight reels and set up an inevitable rematch with former champion Alexandre Pantoja later this year. The flyweight division is in great hands.

Sean Brady absolutely dismantled Joaquin Buckley with scorecards of 30-25 across the board. That was not a close fight at all, and Brady looks like one of the most complete welterweights in the division right now. He deserves a top-three opponent next.

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