NEWARK, N.J. — Sean Strickland won UFC’s 185-pound championship for the second time in his career on Saturday night, defeating Khamzat Chimaev via split decision in the main event of UFC 328.
Strickland won two scorecards 48-47 while Chimaev took the other scorecard at 48-47 in front of a crowd of 17,783 fans at the Prudential Center.
Strickland, the second former middleweight to regain the title, mimed putting the belt around his waist after the fifth round ended to wrap a fight where neither fighter ever seemed in serious danger. He had help with his shiny new fashion accessory when Chimaev did the honours for him inside the cage.
The win begins the second middleweight title reign of Strickland's career. He previously held the belt from Sep. 9, 2023, until Jan. 20, 2024, after he upset Israel Adesanya.
Saturday's loss is the first of Chimaev's MMA career, moving his record to 15-1. Chimaev loses his title in his first defence after beating Driscus Du Plessis for the championship in August 2025 at UFC 319.
Du Plessis ended Strickland's first title reign.
Saturday was Strickland's second fight back after a year away from the octagon. He earned the title opportunity by knocking out Anthony Hernandez back in February.
Strickland's professional record is now 31-7.
Van retains flyweight title in co-main event
Joshua Van mauled Tatsuro Taira into a bloody mess in the co-main and successfully defended his 125-pound championship in the first title fight in company history contested between two Asian fighters.
Van dominated with elite boxing and won via stoppage at 1:32 of round five, and had the crowd roaring in his first title defence since he beat Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323.
Van (17-2) seized control in the second round with a violent right hand to the jaw for the knockdown and he repeatedly bashed Taira (18-2) in the face. Van failed to finish the round but continued to rip shots the rest of the rounds to the face and body, which left Taira’s face and chest smeared with blood.
Van and Taira marked the first time UFC has had a title fight with both competitors born in the 2000s.
The 24-year-old Van, of Myanmar, has won seven straight fights and 10 of 11 since he signed with UFC — and few bigger than in the co-main event of UFC’s 11th stop in Newark.
Taira failed in his attempt to become the first Japanese fighter to become UFC champion.
In other fights of note on the main card, Sean Brady defeated Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision; King Green choked out Jeremy Stephens; and Alexander Volkov defeated Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision.
Miller won his first fight since his teenage son beat childhood cancer
On the undercard, 42-year-old Jim Miller used a submission victory to boost his record totals for UFC fights and career victories in his first return to the cage since his teenage son beat a rare form of childhood cancer.
A New Jersey native, Miller defeated Jared Gordon in a lightweight bout at UFC 328 with a rear-naked choke at 3:29 of the first round, and his family was cheering him on from the Prudential Center. Miller extended his record with 28 career wins in 47 fights under the UFC banner.
Miller also earned his 20th finish, second most in UFC history.
Wyatt Miller, 14, was diagnosed last year with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue and is more common in childhood. Wyatt underwent two courses of chemotherapy and five weeks of proton radiation at Rutgers University Cancer Institute and was eventually given a clean bill of health.
“My son went through some really difficult times the last couple of months,” Miller said inside the octagon. “He ended up kicking the (heck) out of cancer. He’s all good today. He’s cancer-free. One of the things I told him when he first got diagnosed was, Millers have been called a lot of names over the years, but fragile’s never been one of them. He fought his way through it.”
His son’s cancer scare kept Miller out of the cage for 13 months, an eternity for a fighter who made a habit of competing multiple times a year. Miller lost to Chase Hooper in his last fight at UFC 314 in April 2025.
— with files from Sportsnet Staff
