Strickland vs Chimaev – UFC 328: Strickland downs Chimaev on split decision

Sean Strickland has won UFC’s 185-pound title for the 2nd clip successful his career, defeating Khamzat Chimaev via divided determination successful a bout that ne'er roseate to the level of vitriol and threats of unit extracurricular the cage that some fighters engaged successful up of the main lawsuit of UFC 328.

Strickland won 2 scorecards 48-47, portion Chimaev took the 3rd scorecard astatine 48-47 successful beforehand of a assemblage of 17,783 fans astatine the Prudential Center connected Saturday.

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Strickland, the 2nd erstwhile middleweight to regain the title, mimed putting the loop astir his waist aft the 5th circular ended to wrapper up a combat wherever neither combatant ever seemed successful superior danger. He had assistance with his shiny caller manner accessory erstwhile Chimaev did the honours for him wrong the cage.

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland clasp aft their combat [Ishika Samant/Getty Images via AFP]

UFC beefed up information astatine hotels, nationalist events, and astir the cage for the combat pursuing 1 of the much loathsome displays – specifically, from Strickland – of trash speech successful caller combat history. Strickland threatened to sprout Chimaev and labelled him a violent due to the fact that of his ties to Chechen person Ramzan Kadyrov.

Chimaev, who mislaid for the archetypal clip successful 16 nonrecreational fights, is of Chechen ethnicity and fights nether the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banner. He had countered by saying helium would “take off” Strickland’s head.

The fighters tapped gloves to commencement the combat to beryllium they were professionals, and the pre-fight hostilities ne'er spilled implicit into the cage.

The 35-year-old Strickland, who won the 185-pound (84 kg) loop successful September 2023 and mislaid it successful his archetypal rubric defence, apologised aft the combat to fans of each ethnicities and acknowledged helium “went excessively hard” successful weaponising stereotypes to merchantability the fight.

UFC held its past large paper earlier its June 14 amusement astatine the White House hosted by President Donald Trump.

The amusement – what UFC CEO Dana White dubbed a “1 of 1 event” – is timed for Trump’s 80th day and arsenic portion of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Trump, who often attends large UFC events, did not be the lawsuit successful New Jersey.

Chimaev and Strickland successful the cage [Ishika Samant/Getty Images via AFP]

Van retains flyweight rubric successful co-main event

Joshua Van mauled Tatsuro Taira into a bloody messiness successful the co-main lawsuit and successfully defended his 125-pound (56.6 kg) title successful the archetypal UFC rubric combat contested betwixt 2 Asian fighters.

Van dominated with superior boxing skills and won via stoppage astatine 1:32 of circular five, with the assemblage roaring successful his archetypal rubric defence since helium bushed Alexandre Pantoja astatine UFC 323.

Van (17-2) seized power successful the 2nd circular with a convulsive close manus to the jaw for the knockdown, and helium repeatedly bashed Taira (18-2) successful the face. Van failed to decorativeness the circular but continued to rip shots passim the remaining rounds to the look and body, leaving Taira’s look and thorax smeared with blood.

Van and Taira marked the archetypal clip UFC has held a rubric combat with some competitors calved successful the 2000s.

The 24-year-old Van, of Myanmar, has won 7 consecutive fights and 10 of 11 since helium signed with UFC – and fewer were bigger than successful the co-main lawsuit of UFC’s 11th halt successful Newark.

Taira failed successful his effort to go the archetypal Japanese combatant to go a UFC champion.

In different fights of enactment connected the main card, Sean Brady defeated Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision; King Green choked retired Jeremy Stephens; and Alexander Volkov defeated Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision.

Tatsuro Taira of Japan, left, punches Joshua Van of Myanmar successful a flyweight rubric bout during [Ishika Samant/etty Images via AFP]

Miller wins archetypal combat since teenage son’s crab fight

On the undercard, 42-year-old Jim Miller utilized a submission triumph to boost his grounds totals for UFC fights and vocation victories successful his archetypal instrumentality to the cage since his teenage lad bushed a uncommon signifier of puerility cancer.

A New Jersey native, Miller defeated Jared Gordon successful a lightweight bout astatine UFC 328 with a rear-naked choke astatine 3:29 of the archetypal round, with his household cheering him connected from the Prudential Center. Miller extended his grounds with 28 vocation wins successful 47 fights nether the UFC banner.

Miller besides earned his 20th finish, the 2nd astir successful UFC history.

Wyatt Miller, 14, was diagnosed past twelvemonth with rhabdomyosarcoma, a uncommon benignant of crab that starts arsenic a maturation of cells successful brushed insubstantial and is much communal successful childhood. Wyatt underwent 2 courses of chemotherapy and 5 weeks of proton radiation astatine Rutgers University Cancer Institute and was yet fixed a cleanable measure of health.

“My lad went done immoderate truly hard times the past mates of months,” Miller said wrong the octagon.

“He’s each bully today. He’s cancer-free. One of the things I told him erstwhile helium archetypal got diagnosed was, Millers person been called a batch of names implicit the years, but fragile’s ne'er been 1 of them. He fought his mode done it.”

His son’s crab scare kept Miller retired of the cage for 13 months, an eternity for a combatant who made a wont of competing aggregate times a year. Miller mislaid to Chase Hooper successful his past combat astatine UFC 314 successful April 2025.

Miller (right) punches Gordon successful their lightweight combat [Ishika Samant/Getty Images via AFP]