Strickland defeats Chimaev via 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 analyst noted that Chimaev controlled the fight for 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round, but mysteriously fell to his back midway through the second round. Chimaev's conditioning appeared significantly worse than in his bout against Dricus Du Plessis, possibly due to the weight cut. In the third round, Chimaev seemed to conserve energy and avoided wrestling entirely. The sudden collapse in the second round remains unexplained, as Chimaev showed no signs of injury in subsequent rounds. The analyst expressed confusion over what caused Chimaev's mid-fight breakdown and suggested he was not functionally prepared for this bout.