Who won the Sean Strickland fight? UFC 328 results, highlights

Who won the Sean Strickland fight?

Jace Evans

Sean Strickland pulled off the upset, beating Khamzat Chimaev by split decision and winning the middleweight title.

The margin in the five-round fight was razor thin, with one judge scoring it 48-47 in favor of Chimaev and two judges scoring it 48-47 in favor of Strickland.

Sean Strickland def. Khamzat Chimaev by split decision, middleweight

Josh Peter

The judges scored the right 48-47 for Chimaev, 48-47 to Strickland and 48-47 for Strickland.

Round 1: Unexpectedly, they touch gloves twice before the fight between. Chimaev opens with a couple of kicks and he scores a quick takedown. The chants of "U-S-A" faded quickly with Strickland going down less than 20 seonds into the fight. Chimaev has Strickland's back. Chimaev climbs on his back and Strickland looks calm. Storm coming? Strickland remaining calm. Chimaev staying on his back. He's landed...a single punch? Chimaev's got blood trickling down his nose. Too late in the round for a choke. Chimaev cut on the bridge of the nose. Chimaev 10, Strickland 9.

Round 2: Strickland comes out punching. Chimaev looks happy to trade punches. For now. Strickland lets fly with some loose shots. Nothing dangerous. Chimaev goes for the takedown. Strickland on top. Crowd sounds excited. Strickland lands a left. Strickland backs away and lets Chimaev up. Strickland a right and Chimaev is on his back. Strickland connects with two lefts as he's on top of Chimaev. Chimaev, with some cuts on his forehead, looks exhausted. "U-S-A! U-S-A!" Strickland almost as dominant in Round 2 as Chimaev was in Round 1. Chimaev 19, Strickland 19.

Round 3: They're standing toe to toe. Chimaev connects wit ha leg kick and jab. Then a right. Strickland looks a little cautious. Strickland not uncorking powerful shots. Looks tactical behind the jab. Strickland lands a hard right. Then a bigger right. Tacticl toe to toe combat. Strickland sticking the jab as they trade shots. STrickland's in no rush. Strikland now bleeding from the nose. Chimaev landing. Trading jabs, lke a couple of boxers. Chimaev picks up hte pace a little. It's official, blood has been drawn. Incredible, Chimaev attempted zero takedowns this round. Strickland 29, Chimaev 28.

Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira by TKO, flyweight

Josh Peter

Joshua Van spent a chunk of the fight trying to break free of takedowns and avoiding takedown attempts. He spent another chunk of it punching Tatsuro Taira in the face.

It ended with Van defending his flyweight title after he punished Taira with his fists.

It was body shots that opened up the final blows, with Van leaving Taira bloodied before the referee stopped the fight at 1:32 of the fifth round. Taira clearly was upset the fight was stopped.

Van, a 24-year-old who was born in Myanmar, improved to 17-2 (10-1 UFC). Taira, a 26-year-old from Japan, fell to 18-2 (8-2 UFC).

Round 1: Taira connects with a couple of nice leg kicks, charges in for a takedown and, less than a minute in, scores. He's on top of Van and, now what? Taira needs to take advantage. He's got Van by the neck before Van slips away and they trade shots. And trade again. Taira scores another takedown and the crowd boos. Van gets to his feet anda they stay clinched against the fence. Taira takes him down again -- fourth of the round. Taira 10, Van 9.

Round 2: Taira has Van pressed against the fence and he knees Van in the face. Van responds with a couple of nice head shots. And another. Van has found his dance and is tattooing Taira in the face. Taira responds with another takedown and up go the boos. An action-killing move here. Taira in the mount and Van throwing punches from teh botton. Van squirms lose and drops Tair with a right and here comes the ground and pound! Taira's faee bleeding as the round ends. Taira 19, Van 19.

Alexander Volkov def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision, heavyweight

Josh Peter

Blood trickled down Alexander Volkov's nose and into his mouth after his victory over Waldo Cortes-Acosta

The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. The crowd scored it with boos. But Volkov, the 6-7 Russian, hurt Cortes-Acosta with repeated kicks. And ahtough he was bleeding, he avoided any of the haymakers that Cortes-Acosta threw and could have changed the outcome of the fight.

• Round 1: Volkov looks all of 6-7 and Cortes-Acosta looks, uh, considerably smaller. Volkov scores with a couple of leg kicks and Cortest-Acosta fires away with punches. Looks like Cortes-Acosta got the best of that. Volkov unleashes a couple of more leg kicks and backs away. Corest-Acosta lands a big left and Volkov stays with the kicks. One more kick before the round ends. Volkov 10, Cortes-Acosta 9.
• Round 2: Volkov, doing his best impersonation of a kickboxer. Cortez-Acosta responds with some tepid kicks and Volkov lansd a combination. Yes, Volkov used his fists! Cortez-Acrosta wants to brawl and he catchs a punch on the face. Volkov bleeding. Volkov connects with a head kick, lands two nice jabs and Cortez-Acosta showing the effects of it all. Volkov 19, Cortes-Acosta 19.
• Round 3: Cortes-Acosta lands some big head shots and Volkov is bleeding profusely from the nose. He fights back with a jab and lets fly with another leg kick. Cortes-Acosta attacks with both fists and the blood contlinues to leak from Volkov's nose. Cortes-Acosta lands a speedy jab. Volkov lets fly with a couple of kicks and connects with a punch. Cortes-Acosta unleashes punches as the round ends but most of are the mark. Cortes-Acosta 29, Volkov 28.

Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley, welterweight

Josh Peter

Brady exploited his wrestling skills and kept Buckley on his back for most of the fight. An extremely lopsided fight. The heavily muscled and talented Buckley looked helpless. The judges scored it 30-27, 30-25, 30-27 in favor of Brady.

• Round 1: Brady took down Buckley about two minutes into the round and and onslaught ensured. Buckley pounded away with both fists and maintained control until the round ended. Yet Buckley reached his feet without looking as haggard and damaged as expected. Brady 10, Buckley 9.
• Round 2:Within 30 seconds, Brady had Buckley on his back again and began to strike both fists. Buckley muscled free, to the delight of the crowd, but soon enough Brady took him down again followed by relentless ground and pound. Brady 20, Buckley 18.
• Round 3: In less than a minute, Brady took down Buckley yet again. And most of the rest of the round pounding Buckley with punches.

Chris Weidman

Josh Peter

After the first fight of the main card at the Prudential Center, a video was shown in tribute of retired fighter Chris Weidman, who is going into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Among Weidman’s greatest achievements: breaking Anderson Silva's 17-fight winning streak.

King Green def. Jeremy Stephens, by submission lightweight

Josh Peter

King Green, 39, was talking as soon as he was fighting. On both counts he was unstoppable. He dominated fellow 39-year-old Jeremy Stephens with superior striking, grappling and mid-fight talking in a lightweight bout that ended by submission with 40 seconds left in the first round.

• Round 1: King Green puliverized Jeremy Stephens, clocking him wit ha couple of hard left before taking him down to the canvas and punishing him with punches and elbows before finshing him off by submission with a rear naked choke at 4:20 of the first round.
• Round 2: Uh, no need.

Sean Strickland suspended

Josh Peter

The main event will be Sean Strickland’s second fight since he was suspended for six months and fined $5,000 for his role in a brawl at a mixed martial arts event in Las Vegas June 2025.

That day, Strickland was working as a cornerman for Miles Hunsinger at a Tuff-N-Uff event. Luis Hernandez beat Hunsinger, then taunted Hunsinger’s corner and Strickland ended up throwing punches at Hernandez.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission levied the fine and suspension, which ended in December.

Strickland, 35, returned to action in February and beat Anthony Hernandez by third-round TKO.

UFC 328 Prelims

Josh Peter

Ateba Gautier def. Ozzy Diaz by TKO,middleweight

• Round 1: Gautier peppered Diaz with punches and Diaz's big move was a takedown attempt. It failed.
• Round 2: Gautier dropped Diaz to the mat with an overhand right and followed up with two punches before the referee could intervene, ending the fight at 1:10 of the second round. Gautier, the 24-year-old Cameroonian, won his 10th fight in a row while improving to 11-1 (5-0 UFC.)

Yaroslav Amosov def. Joel Alvarez by submission (arm triangle), welterweight

• Round 1: Amosov dominated with superior grappling and snuck some nasty punches to Alvarez's face, along with some chivalry. He exteded a hand and helped Alvarez off the mat when the round ended.
• Round 2: After taking a few punches, Amosov pulled off another masterful takedown an ended the fight by submissiion with an arm triangle at 1:13 of the second round. Then, at the center of the cage, he dropped down and broke into some breakdancing moves.

Grant Dawson def. Mateusz Rebecki by submission (rear naked choke),lightweight

• Round 1: Dawson scored with a head kick and did more damage who he hopped onto Rebeck's back and with his fist opened up a cut around Rebecki's left eye. but by no means was the round lopsided.
• Round 2:This round belonged to Rebecki, who knocked down Dawson twice while making great use of his right hook. He also caught Dawson's leg during an attempt kick and scored a nifty takedown.
• Round 3: Dawson scored a slick takedown and finished the job by submission with a rear naked choke at 4:42 in the third round.

UFC 328 Early Prelims

Josh Peter

Roman Kopylov def. Marco Tulio by unanimous decision, middleweight

• Round 1:The action revved up in the the round and Tulio got the best of it.
• Round 2: Tulio was dominating the round with hard rights that opened up a bad cut around Kopylove's right eye. But almost shockingly, Kopylov knocked down Tulio, who got to his feet before he stumbled to the ground again but survived the round.
• Round 3: Less than 20 seconds into the round, Kopylov knocked down Tulio yet again. But Tulio finished the fight on his feet and landed a vicious punch as it ended. But all three judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Kopylov.

Pat Sabatini def. William Gomis by unanimous decision,featherweight

• Round 1: Those are five minutes you'll never get back if you watched Sabatini spend the round trying to take down Gomis.

• Round 2:About a minute of standup action amid the grappling is the only thing that kept me from looking for a good pickleball match to cover.
• Round 3: Page Dana White. Is there anything that can be done about excessive grappling, or failed attempts at a takedowns? The judges scored in 30-27, 30-27, 29-29 for Sabatini, the winner based largely on control time.

Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos by submission (rear naked choke), middleweight

• Round 1: Susurkaev repeatedly landed calf kicks and some punches too, but Santos bloodied Susurkaev's nose and reddened his face thanks to an effective jab.
• Round 2: Susurkaev came out focused and determined, landing a series of punches and opening a cut on Santos' forehead with a nasty cut.
• Round 3: Susurkaev broke free from a clinch late in the round, scored a takedown and finished off Sanots with a rear naked choke at 4:12 into Round 3. Susurkaev, a 25-year-old Russian, improved to 12-0.

Sean Strickland record

Elizabeth Flores

Strickland is eager to reclaim the title and enters UFC 328 with an impressive record of 30 wins and 7 losses. After dropping the title to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312, Strickland returned to the Octagon and delivered a statement win with a third-round knockout of Anthony Hernandez in February.

Khamzat Chimaev record

Elizabeth Flores

Chimaev holds a perfect 15-0 professional record, rapidly becoming one of the most dominant competitors in MMA. His latest victory came at UFC 319 last August, where he defeated Dricus du Plessis to claim the middleweight crown.

Where is UFC 328: Chimaev vs Strickland?

Gabe Zaldivar

Chimaev vs Strickland caps off an electric card live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

UFC 328 price

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland will fight for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 328 on Paramount+. Say goodbye to the pay-per-view fees, but don’t forget the Paramount+ subscription fee of $8.99 that gets you access to UFC fights.

UFC 328 live stream

The Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland fight continues a new era for the UFC. All fights, from early prelims to the main card, will be available on Paramount+.

Ring walk time for Chimaev vs. Strickland main event

Elizabeth Flores

The main event, featuring Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland, is part of a 13-fight fight card and will begin at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 9, 2026. The main event for the Chimaev and Strickland fight main card is expected to be around 11 p.m. ET and will feature four fights ahead of the main event, which start at 9 p.m. ET. However, the duration of the other fights will impact when Chimaev and Strickland actually start.

UFC 328 preliminary and main card start times

Here are your start times.

• Early Prelims: 5 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
• Prelims: 7 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
• Main card: 9 p.m. ET (Paramount+)

UFC 328 fight card odds

Odds via BetMGM.

Main Card

• Middleweight Title Bout: Khamzat Chimaev - C (-500) vs. Sean Strickland (+360)
• Flyweight Title Bout: Joshua Van - C (+130) vs. Tatsuro Taira (-155)
• Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Volkov (-145) vs. Waldo Cortes Acosta (+120)
• Welterweight Bout: Sean Brady (-120) vs. Joaquin Buckley (+100)
• Lightweight Bout: King Green (-400) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+310)

Prelims

• Middleweight Bout: Ateba Gautier (-1400) vs. Ozzy Diaz (+775)
• Welterweight Bout: Joel Alvarez (+155) vs. Yaroslav Amosov (-190)
• Lightweight Bout: Grant Dawson (-150) vs. Mateusz Rebecki (+125)
• Lightweight Bout: Jim Miller (+225) vs. Jared Gordon (-275)

Early Prelims

• Middlweight Bout: Roman Kopylov (+150) vs. Marco Tulio (-185)
• Featherweight Bout: Pat Sabatini (-170) vs. William Gomis (+140)
• Middleweight Bout: Baisangur Susurkaev (-750) vs. Djoden Santos (+525)
• Flyweight Bout: Clayton Carpenter (+150) vs. Jose Ochoa (-165)

UFC 328 fight card

Main Card

• Middleweight Title Bout: Khamzat Chimaev (c) vs. Sean Strickland
• Flyweight Title Bout: Joshua Van (c) vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Volkov vs. Waldo Cortes Acosta
• Welterweight Bout: Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley
• Lightweight Bout: King Green vs. Jeremy Stephens

Prelims

• Middleweight Bout: Ateba Gautier vs. Ozzy Diaz
• Welterweight Bout: Joel Alvarez vs. Yaroslav Amosov
• Lightweight Bout: Grant Dawson vs. Mateusz Rebecki
• Lightweight Bout: Jim Miller vs. Jared Gordon

Early Prelims

• Middlweight Bout: Roman Kopylov vs. Marco Tulio
• Featherweight Bout: Pat Sabatini vs. William Gomis
• Middleweight Bout: Baisangur Susurkaev vs. Djorden Santos
• Flyweight Bout: Clayton Carpenter vs. Jose Ochoa

UFC 328 fight predictions

Lou Finocchiaro, VSiN: Chimaev vs. Strickland will go OVER 2.5 rounds

Finocchiaro writes: "This fight will be much more competitive than any we have seen Chimaev undertake, simply because of Strickland’s fortitude, his natural middleweight build, and his ability to out-crazy anyone in the organization, including Chimaev. Strickland’s going to need to weather a furious first two rounds, then he’ll look to turn the tables on this monster and bully this bully."

Robert Whittaker: "Chimaev is going to run [Strickland] over"

The former undisputed middleweight champion believes Chimaev has the edge in this one. Whittaker has fought Chimaev before and has seen what he brings to the ring. Whittaker said, "having been in there with Chimaev and having seen what Chimaev can do once he gets his hands on you, and he will because he shoots from so far away and he commits wholeheartedly, he will get you to the mat."

Chimaev gave Strickland his props, saying "[Strickland] talks a big game; he almost convinces me that he can do it." At the end of the day though, Whittaker was still rolling with Chimaev.

Chimaev vs. Strickland odds

Odds via BetMGM.

• Middleweight Title Bout: Khamzat Chimaev - C (-500) vs. Sean Strickland (+360)