Strickland defeats Chimaev by split decision to win UFC middleweight title

Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The post highlights a puzzling moment in the second round when Chimaev suddenly fell to his back mid-round, though he continued to fight without apparent injury afterward. Chimaev had 4 minutes and 44 seconds of control time in the first round, but his performance declined in the later rounds. The author suggests Chimaev may not have been as well-prepared functionally as he was for his fight with Dricus Du Plessis, speculating that the weight cut could have been a factor. Chimaev appeared to conserve energy in the third round and avoided grappling exchanges.