Strickland defeats Chimaev by split decision to win UFC middleweight title

Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev via split decision with scores of 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47 to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The analyst notes a puzzling moment in round two when Chimaev suddenly fell to his back mid-round, though he showed no signs of injury afterward. Chimaev appeared to conserve energy in the third round by avoiding grappling exchanges entirely. The analyst believes Chimaev was not as well-prepared functionally as he was for his bout against Dricus du Plessis, possibly due to the weight cut. Chimaev controlled 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round before the unexplained second-round incident.