Tale of the Tape: Chimaev vs Strickland ahead of UFC 328

TNT Sports has released a tale-of-the-tape infographic comparing Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland ahead of their middleweight clash at UFC 328, inviting fans to weigh in on which man has faced the stiffer competition throughout his career.

Strickland enters the fight as the reigning middleweight champion, carrying a 31-7-0 record at 35 years old. The American out of Xtreme Couture stands six-foot-one with a 76-inch reach and fights out of an orthodox stance. He is one of the division's most active strikers, landing 6.04 significant strikes per minute, and has built his reputation on relentless output across 15 appearances in the cage.

Chimaev arrives as the division's top-ranked contender and sits tenth in the pound-for-pound rankings. The 32-year-old, who represents the United Arab Emirates and trains at Allstars Training Center, holds a 15-1-0 record and stands six-foot-two with a 75-inch reach. His numbers paint a picture of a complete mixed martial artist: a striking accuracy rate of 60 percent, 5.29 takedowns landed per 15 minutes, and 1.8 submission attempts per 15 minutes rank among the most dangerous in the division.

Why it matters

• Strickland's championship is directly on the line, making this a unification-style clash between the titleholder and the division's consensus next challenger
• Chimaev's elite takedown volume of 5.29 per 15 minutes poses a serious stylistic problem for Strickland, who averages just 0.71 takedowns per 15 minutes himself
• The contrast in striking accuracy — Chimaev at 60 percent versus Strickland at 42 percent — adds another layer to what shapes up as a genuinely complex style matchup at 185 pounds