UFC: Strickland hands Chimaev 1st pro loss to reclaim middleweight belt

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Well, someone’s 0 had to go.

On May 10, 2026, Sean Strickland earned the memo and dealt Khamzat Chimaev his first professional loss, returning to the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship pedestal by reclaiming the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 328 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was three years ago when the stand-up hitting tactician tasted a UFC title belt.

However, after Strickland’s upset win over Israel Adesanya, he immediately lost to Dricus Du Plessis twice, which began his turbulent roller-coaster ride in the UFC.

In the words of the Anaheim native: “I will never let go of this opportunity. This is another chance given to me, and this might not happen again.”

He then walked his talk as Strickland delivered a performance for the ages with a clinical display of how to counter Chimaev’s dominant ground game.

Known as one of the best UFC grapplers in history, Chimaev’s consistent playbook surprisingly faded as Strickland and his camp adjusted with unorthodox ground movement.

Chimaev kicked off his title defense on a high note, dominating Strickland in the first four minutes of the first round with an overwhelming barrage of takedowns.

In just 15 seconds, Chimaev rushed with quick lateral footwork to score his first takedown, piling up his total ground control time to nearly five minutes of full mount on top of Strickland.

Just when Chimaev thought he could replicate what transpired in the first round, a reversal of fortunes took place when Strickland was able to sprawl out of danger at the 5:02 mark of the second round.

To keep Chimaev guessing, Strickland’s in-and-outs and slippery ways of avoiding the ground worked to perfection, eventually frustrating the Russian grappler.

Strickland then found the perfect timing to switch the ground-oriented championship fight into a stand-up exchange when Chimaev’s takedown attempts stalled midway through the second round.

From there, Strickland found his rhythm, tagging Chimaev with clean left hooks while countering his knee-lock attempts with vicious leg kicks.

Chimaev looked like Superman without a cape as Strickland finally exposed his weakness without any touches on the ground.

For the next 13 minutes of the fight, Strickland took full control and didn’t let Chimaev operate again, just as he did in the first round.

To everyone’s surprise, Chimaev looked exhausted in a title defense as he grasped for air in the last two championship rounds.

Technical, crafty, and clever enough to stick with his striking prowess, Strickland wrapped up his snatch season with poise and continued to defend against Chimaev’s takedown attempts.

The official ruling was a split decision in favor of Strickland, 48-47, 47-48, 48-47. Although Chimaev scored more takedowns, the returning middleweight king dominated the significant strike department, 123-98.

“I hit him with everything, but he kept coming forward. Crazy. He may have broken my nose, but I love my fans. I would not be here today without you guys,” Strickland said after the win.