Sean Strickland defeats Hamzat Chimaev to win UFC middleweight title

Sean Strickland defeated Hamzat Chimaev by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The post notes a puzzling moment in the second round when Chimaev suddenly fell to his back mid-round, though he continued fighting afterward without apparent injury. Chimaev appeared to conserve energy in the third round and avoided grappling exchanges entirely. The analysis suggests Chimaev was not as well-prepared functionally as he was for his bout with Dricus du Plessis, potentially due to weight cut issues. Chimaev controlled 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round before the mysterious second-round incident.