UFC 328 reaction: Gas tank fails Khamzat Chimaev as Sean Strickland wins by split decision
Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 on Sunday, May 10 to become a two-time champ in the middleweight division.
Main event analysis
Chimaev struggled with his cardio throughout the fight, but particularly in the second round after a dominant wrestling showing in the first.
Strickland gradually took over the fight with his jab and distance control, notably winning rounds two, three and five.
For Chimaev, this was a likely outcome in reflection of his performance, with fans noting the controversy surrounding the Chechen making weight in the final 20 mins of the time allocated for fighters.
Videos of the weigh-in emerged that showed Chimaev stepping on the scale without it stabilising before the commissioner deemed that he made weight at 185 pounds.
This controversy followed Chimaev into the fight, with Strickland making weight relatively easily, looking healthy on the scale.
With many deeming Chimaev as the ‘boogeyman’ and unbeatable prior to the fight, Strickland proved that if you weather the early storm and stuff takedowns in the later rounds, you’ll be on course to an untroubled victory.
Chimaev had no real offense aside from his takedown threat. His inability to offer anything on the feet, particularly his lack of power and ground-and-pound when he did have Strickland down, really cost him.
Strickland: ‘Be the man you wanna be’
The two-time middleweight champ reflected on his win and performance on the UFC’s About Last Fight podcast.
“Let me tell you, every fight I’ve ever had, 30-40 minutes before the fight I think I’m gonna lose, every fight,” Strickland said.
“I just go in there and fight. Yeah, (I’m being serious), I’ve never thought I was gonna win a fight.
“You’ve just got to be the man you wanna be, just because you think, like, how do you prove you’re enough? You do it. I’ve never thought I would ever win a fight.
“We all kind of have this voice in our head like, you don’t think there’s a voice in my head that sees a big angry Chechen with a beard, you see him just run through everybody in the division.
“You don’t think I have a voice in my head saying, ‘oh sh*t, oh sh*t‘, we all have that voice.
“You just sack the f*ck up and be the man you want to be.”
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