Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland, more added to UFC 328
· Yahoo Sports
Finally, there's a date, location, and opponent for Khamzat Chimaev's first UFC title defense.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), champion at 185 pounds, is set to defend his belt against former champion of the division Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328, which takes place on May 9 in Newark, N.J. UFC CEO Dana White announced the news of the matchup on Thursday.
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Chimaev won the belt last August, dominatingDricus Du Plessis in a unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 319. He hasn't fought since. Some champions, who fought after him, have already been booked. Many expected Chimaev to defend against Nassourdine Imavov, who's regarded as the No. 1 contender, being ranked second behind Du Plessis, who just fought for the belt. However, Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) ended up getting the shot, despite having just bounced back from a defeat to Du Plessis in a TKO stoppage of Anthony Hernandez in February.
Chimaev remains unbeaten in his MMA career. He's built quite the resume in recent years, beating former champions Du Plessis, Robert Whittaker, and Kamaru Usman. Strickland is 2-2 since winning the belt in 2023. Both defeats came against Du Plessis.
Additionally, several more bouts were announced.
Ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov will run things back on this card. The two fought in December at UFC 323. It was an entertaining fight with ups and downs, but neither Blachowicz (29-11-2 MMA, 12-8-2 UFC) nor Guskov (18-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) was able to leave with the win. The bout ended in a majority draw.
King Green and Jeremy Stephens will clash in a lightweight bout. Green (34-17-1 MMA, 15-12-1 UFC), 39, is coming off a big upset TKO win over Daniel Zellhuber last month in Mexico City, and Stephens (29-22 MMA, 15-19 UFC) retruns to the promotion, once again, after losing to Mike Perry in bare-nuckle boxing bout October at BKFC.
Brazil's Jorden Santos (11-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) takes on Chimaev's teammate and top prospect Baisangur Susurkaev (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a middleweight bout.
The current UFC 328 lineup includes:
- Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland – for middleweight title
- Alexander Volkov vs. Waldo Cortes Acosta
- Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
- King Green vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Ateba Gautier vs. Ozzy Diaz
- Roman Kopylov vs. Marco Tulio
- Clayton Carpenter vs. Jose Ochoa
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland set for UFC 328