Sean Strickland has now produced two of the greatest upsets in UFC history.
On Saturday, in the main event of UFC 328, the controversial American secured an unlikely decision win over Khamzat Chimaev, regaining the middleweight title as he became the first fighter to beat the Russian.
After five rounds in Newark, New Jersey, every scorecard read 48-47, with two favouring Strickland and one going Chimaev’s way.
The narrative heading into the bout was that Chimaev would employ his typically-dominant wrestling to breeze past his former training partner, an awkward striker with whom he had produced a volatile build-up – even kicking Strickland at the press conference, after they had traded vulgar verbal barbs.
And when the Russian secured a takedown inside 15 seconds of round one, it seemed these predictions would be vindicated. Indeed, Chimaev controlled Strickland for the entirety of the round and seemed somewhat close to locking in a rear naked choke on a couple of occasions.
But in round two, the 32-year-old was already exhausted, with Strickland easily defending his first two takedown attempts. Strickland, 35, ended up in Chimaev’s guard after the first attempt and rained down strikes, while the second failed takedown led the champion to drop to his back and invite guard again. It was an entirely-unexpected visual, with Strickland proceeding to win the round handily.
Also unexpected were the frequent glove touches between the rivals, given the intensity of their pre-fight exchanges, which had led the UFC to employ extra security in the cage before the contest started.
Chimaev’s body language was discouraging heading into round three, with the Russian needing a serious pep talk from his team. And he seemed to narrowly lose the round, which was contested entirely on the feet, after Chimaev did not try a single takedown.
He did bloody the American’s nose, however, and appeared to win a similar-looking fourth round after screaming aloud before it began. Looking somewhat replenished, Chimaev landed jabs to the body and head of Strickland throughout, intermittently adding crosses as well. He also dumped Strickland to the mat with a takedown in the final minute, but the former champion rose to his feet just before the buzzer.
“You’re the f***ing boogeyman, Sean,” Strickland was told by his coach heading into the fifth and final round. He was soon taken down but did well to get back up, before landing jabs and sporadic crosses to bloody Chimaev’s face. He also landed intermittent front kicks to the body, a trademark weapon of his. A late takedown attempt by Chimaev was denied by Strickland, who finished the fight well on the feet, although Chimaev was landing right hands here and there.
Shortly thereafter, the scorecards were announced, as Chimaev’s unbeaten run came to an end (15-1), while his middleweight-title reign ended with zero successful defences. He is now expected to move up to light-heavyweight.
Meanwhile, Strickland (31-7) became a two-time champion. He first held the belt from 2023 until 2024, after outpointing Israel Adesanya in another seismic upset to win the gold.
In the co-main event, Joshua Van stopped Tatsuro Taira in the final round of a five-frame thriller, retaining his flyweight title in the process.
