According to media scorecards, 13 out of 24 journalists scored the UFC 328 main event in favor of Khamzat Chimaev despite Sean Strickland winning via split decision. This indicates significant disagreement within the media about the outcome of the closely contested bout. The scoring disparity highlights how competitive and difficult to judge the fight was from a technical standpoint. Nearly half of the media members believed Chimaev had done enough to earn the victory. The official judges awarded Strickland the split decision, but the media split demonstrates the bout could have reasonably gone either way.
Thirteen of 24 media members who submitted scorecards for the UFC 328 main event believed Khamzat Chimaev had done enough to defeat Sean Strickland, even as the official judges awarded Strickland a split decision victory on May 9, 2026.
Strickland, the 35-year-old middleweight champion from the United States, retained his title in a fight that clearly divided observers at ringside and beyond. Fighting out of Xtreme Couture, "Tarzan" carries a 31-7-0 record and is one of the most active pressure fighters in the division, averaging 6.04 significant strikes per minute with a 76-inch reach that allows him to control range effectively across five rounds.
Chimaev, the number-one-ranked middleweight and number-ten pound-for-pound contender, had made a compelling case of his own. The 32-year-old representing the UAE and Allstars Training Center brought a 15-1-0 record into the contest, along with a remarkable 60 percent striking accuracy and an elite grappling profile that features 5.29 takedown attempts per 15 minutes and 1.8 submission attempts per 15 minutes — tools that made him a genuinely dangerous threat in every phase of the fight.
Why it matters
- With 13 of 24 media scorers siding with Chimaev, the result underscores how razor-thin the margin was between champion and challenger
- The split decision outcome does nothing to resolve the competitive question; a rematch would carry substantial credibility given the scoring controversy
- The clash of styles — Strickland's high-volume striking against Chimaev's accurate hands and relentless grappling — produced exactly the kind of difficult-to-judge action that splits both officials and observers
- Strickland retains championship status, but Chimaev's divisional ranking and performance keep him firmly at the front of the middleweight title conversation
Saturday, May 9, 2026
