Strickland defeats Chimaev by split decision to win UFC middleweight title

Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The observer noted the mystery of what happened to Chimaev in the middle of the second round when he suddenly fell to his back, though Chimaev continued fighting afterward without appearing injured. Chimaev appeared to conserve energy in the third round and avoided wrestling entirely. The analysis suggests Chimaev was not as well-conditioned as he had been for his fight with Dricus Du Plessis, possibly due to the weight cut. Everything was going well for Chimaev initially with 4:44 of control time in the first round before the puzzling second-round incident.