Strickland defeats Chimaev by split decision to win middleweight title

Sean Strickland captured the UFC middleweight championship by defeating Hamzat Chimaev via split decision with scores of 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47 at UFC 328. The analyst noted that the fight's mystery centered on a mid-second-round incident where Chimaev suddenly fell to his back, though he showed no signs of injury afterward. Chimaev appeared to conserve energy in the third round, completely avoiding grappling exchanges. The assessment suggests Chimaev entered this bout in worse functional condition than his previous fight with Dricus du Plessis, potentially due to weight-cutting issues. Chimaev had controlled 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round before the puzzling second-round collapse.