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 at UFC 328. The post notes confusion about what happened to Chimaev in the second round when he suddenly fell to his back mid-round. 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 fight with Dricus Du Plessis, possibly due to weight cut issues. Chimaev had controlled 4 minutes and 44 seconds in the first round before the mysterious second-round incident altered the fight's trajectory.