Sean Strickland survived an attritional five-round battle against Khamzat Chimaev to win a razor-thin split decision and regain the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328 early on Sunday morning, handing the Russia-born UAE fighter his first professional defeat in a fight in which he was heavily favoured by the bookmakers.
After a bad-tempered build-up to the bout, in which Strickland threatened to shoot Chimaev, the two finally faced off in the cage. The raucous home 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 turned the tables in the second round, 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.
Chimaev, one of the most dominant fighters in MMA, received the UAE passport in February, 2025,
The 32-year-old announced his arrival on the big stage when in 2020 when he won two fights within just 10 days on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Despite Saturday’s defeat, Chimaev earned praise from his opponent.
“He would not go back. I hit him with everything but he keeps coming forward. Crazy,” said Strickland.
“He may have broken my nose, but I love my fans, I would not be here today without you guys.”
Meanwhile, 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 fearsome 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-fourth bout until Van ended it one minute and 32 seconds into the final round with an unanswered barrage of blows.
Source: Khaleej Times