NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MAY 09: (R-L) Sean Strickland punches Khamzat Chimaev of Russia in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 328 event at Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)
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Sean Strickland became a two-time UFC middleweight champion with an interesting and highly tactical split-decision win over the previously undefeated Khamzat Chimaev. Strickland was taken down nine times, but he succeeded where previous opponents like Dricus du Plessis failed.
Strickland was able to get to his feet and fend off submission attempts from Chimaev. In the second round, Chimaev seemed to gas and that fatigue lasted into the third. He'd won the first round, but those middle rounds proved costly.
Chimaev rebounded to take round four. The final round was close. Chimaev got an early takedown, but didn't enjoy much control and he couldn't do any damage. He was outlanded in the final frame and failed to get what would have been a pivotal takedown in the last minute of the fight.
While it wasn't a knock-down drag-out battle, it was great mixed martial arts. The two men came into the fight after tons of trash talk and seemingly bad blood, but that was buried mid-fight as the two warriors repeatedly showed each other respect. After the final decision was read, Chimaev showed great sportsmanship, even wrapping the belt around Strickland's waist.
Great fight and very strong main card. Here's the rest of the info.
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Is there any question as to whether Strickland is a Hall of Famer? On a night that saw former middleweight champion Chris Weidman get the call, Strickland secured his spot as a two-time champion. Israel Adesanya is the only other man to have won the 185-pound title twice.
That stat alone reframes how Strickland's career gets remembered. Per CBS Sports, Chimaev landed nine of 13 takedowns in the fight but only managed 6:04 of total ground control time, which tells the entire story of the bout — the takedowns landed, but Strickland's ability to scramble back to his feet and punish Chimaev with the jab on the way back up is what won him the championship.
Two judges scored 48-47 for Strickland; the third had it 48-47 Chimaev. The mutual respect after the final bell told you everything about how both men felt about the actual fight versus the build.
I don't know if I've ever seen a better UFC flyweight championship fight. Joshua Van's title win over Tatsuro Taira was legendary. Taira showed excellent heart and cardio, but ultimately his poor striking defense and underdeveloped offensive striking were too much for the challenger to overcome.
Van's fifth-round TKO at 1:32 was the natural conclusion of nine minutes of Taira-on-top wrestling that produced no meaningful damage, followed by Van's championship-round pace catching up with the Japanese contender. Van retained the title and a rematch with former champ Alexandre Pantoja is now the obvious next step at 125. The performance ends any conversation about Van being an "opportunistic" champion.
It was submission city in New Jersey. Most of the stoppages came by way of tap out. Alexander Volkov earned a measured unanimous decision over Waldo Cortes-Acosta (30-27, 29-28 x2) and called for a title shot post-fight.
Sean Brady reminded everyone he was once viewed as a future welterweight problem with a one-sided grappling clinic on Joaquin Buckley, winning 30-25 on two cards. King Green hurt Jeremy Stephens on the feet and locked a rear-naked choke at 4:20 of Round 1 in his second straight finish.
Jim Miller is ageless. He secured a record-setting submission win over Jared Gordon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCRBWIGwnJg
Miller's R1 guillotine at 3:29 extended his all-time UFC wins record and earned him one of the night's $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses. Ateba Gautier flattened Ozzy Diaz with a R2 KO at 1:10 and called out Adesanya.
Yaroslav Amosov made a definitive statement in just his second UFC fight, slamming and submitting Joel Alvarez with an arm-triangle at 1:13 of Round 2.
Grant Dawson controlled most of his fight with Mateusz Rebecki and finished with a late R3 RNC.
Van-Taira won Fight of the Night. It was announced on the UFC 328 post show. Van was informed during his interview with the panel. That was the easiest bonus to call on the evening.
Performance of the Night honors went to Jim Miller and Yaroslav Amosov, with each fighter taking home $50,000. Miller's bonus is now part of one of the deepest post-fight bonus collections in UFC history, while Amosov's win is the kind of arrival statement that the UFC tends to reward when a former top-tier outside-organization champion announces themselves at the highest level.
Strickland stamps his Hall-of-Fame resume. Chimaev might have had his last fight at 185 pounds. If not, he probably deserves an immediate rematch because of how close the fight was. Gautier took another major step in his development as a middleweight rising star — he even called out his role model Adesanya for a fight.
Miller just keeps fighting and getting submissions. Green put on a great performance, but it came against a washed Jeremy Stephens. That's likely what cost him the bonus (confirmed bonuses are Miller and Amosov). Overall, this was a really good night of MMA.
The card delivered on every level it could. Two title fights, multiple division-shifting wins, a record extended for Miller, an arrival statement from Amosov, and a main event that traded weeks of bad blood for legitimate mid-fight respect. UFC 328 will live in the conversation as one of the strongest cards of 2026, and the Strickland-Chimaev rivalry is exactly the kind of result the sport needs heading deeper into the year.
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