NEWARK, New Jersey, May 10 (Reuters) - 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 Chechen 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.
In an expletive-laden victory speech in the octagon, Strickland paid tribute to his opponent, saying he had gone too far in the build-up to the fight.
"I want to tell you guys, my fans, I f****** love you guys. I would not be where I am today without you guys, my Christian fans, my Muslim fans, my white fans, my Black friends, my brown fans," he said after regaining the crown he lost to South African Dricus du Plessis in February 2025.
"I f****** love you guys. We are all Americans, and this is the f****** dream."
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.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by William Mallard)
