UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev has his first title defense booked. Chimaev is set to defend the 185-pound crown against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 in Newark, New Jersey, on May 9.
The middleweight title fight will headline at the Prudential Center, the UFC announced on Thursday. It marks the promotion’s first visit to Newark since UFC 316, which was headlined by the bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.
Chimaev makes his first appearance since dethroning Dricus du Plessis in August. Strickland returns to the Prudential Center two years after beating Paulo Costa in the co-main event of Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier.
Chimaev (15-0) was dubbed a future champion early in his UFC run. He dominated three opponents in two months and only absorbed one significant strike in his first four UFC fights. He’s coming off three consecutive wins over former UFC champions: Kamaru Usman, Robert Whittaker and du Plessis. He brutally caved Whittaker’s teeth in with a face crank before dominating du Plessis to win the middleweight title.
Strickland (30-7) returned to the win column by knocking out Anthony Hernandez in February. Strickland had an easy time with “Fluffy” despite being a betting underdog. Back in 2023, Strickland upset Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title before dropping the title to DDP.
In the co-main event, Alexander Volkov will take on Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a pivotal heavyweight bout. Sean Brady is set to take on Joaquin Buckley at welterweight, Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov is set for a rematch after they battled to a draw in December and veterans meet at lightweight when King Green takes on Jeremy Stephens.
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