All week long, Sean Strickland talked the talk. On Saturday night at UFC 328, he backed it up.
Strickland won back the UFC middleweight championship in the main event from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, dealing Khamzat Chimaev his first professional loss. The entire card, including the main event, streamed live on Paramount+.
The decision was as controversial as Strickland is, with two judges awarding the former champion the fight by matching scores of 48-47. The third ruled in favor of Chimaev by the same final.
Strickland out-landed Chimaev, 160-137, including a huge advantage in shots to the head. He denied four of the 13 takedown attempts thrown at him by heavy favorite entering the bout.
Joshua Van retains title in thrilling flyweight affair
The co-main event also featured a championship in the line, but this time, the champ retained.
Joshua Van finished off Tatsuro Taira early in the fifth round to remain UFC flyweight champion. The two put on an exciting exchange throughout, combining for nearly 300 strikes landed. Taira also connected on eight takedowns, but Van recorded a pair of knockdowns, including the final blow.
Alexander Volkov, Sean Brady and King Green earned wins to complete the main card. Volkov and Brady were decision winners, as Green submitted fellow veteran Jeremy Stephens to open the main card.
On the prelims, four straight fights were finishes, highlighted by a stoppage for Ateba Gautier in the featured attraction. Yaroslav Amosov, Grant Dawson and Jim Miller all picked up submissions.
UFC 328 results
- Sean Strickland def. Khamzat Chimaev via split decision to become the new UFC middleweight champion
- Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira via TKO (strikes) at 1:32 of Round 5 to remain UFC flyweight champion
- Alexander Volkov def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision
- Sean Brady def. Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision
- King Green def. Jeremy Stephens via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:20 of Round 1
- Ateba Gautier def. Osman Diaz via TKO (strikes) at 1:10 of Round 2
- Yarosalov Amosov def. Joel Alvarez via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:13 of Round 2
- Grant Dawson def. Mateusz Rabecki via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:42 of Round 3
- Jim Miller def. Jared Gordon via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:29 of Round 1
- Roman Kopylov def. Marco Tulio via unanimous decision
- Pat Sabatini def. William Gomis via unanimous decision
- Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:12 of Round 3
- Jose Ochoa def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision
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