Sean Strickland defeats Hamzat Chimaev by split decision to win UFC title

Sean Strickland defeated Hamzat Chimaev by split decision with scores of 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47 to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The post notes a mysterious moment in the second round when Chimaev suddenly fell to his back mid-round, though he did not appear injured afterward. Chimaev controlled 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round before the puzzling second-round sequence. In the third round, Chimaev appeared to conserve energy and avoided grappling exchanges entirely. The author suggests Chimaev's conditioning was not as strong as in his fight against Dricus Du Plessis, possibly due to weight cut issues.