Khamzat Chimaev will make the first defense of his UFC middleweight title against former champion Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, and a panel of three former UFC fighters has weighed in with predictions and analysis, the report says.
Chimaev captured the belt at UFC 319 last August with a victory over Dricus du Plessis and enters the bout unbeaten in professional MMA. He is listed as ESPN’s No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter and has recorded three straight wins over fighters who previously held UFC championships, the report says.
Strickland is No. 4 in ESPN’s middleweight rankings and arrives off a third-round TKO of Anthony Hernandez in February. This will be his fourth fight for the middleweight title: he defeated Israel Adesanya to win the belt at UFC 293 and then lost consecutive title bouts to Du Plessis in 2024 and 2025, per the report.
The report quotes Dustin Poirier as saying he is confident Chimaev will prevail, noting skepticism that Strickland can consistently stop Chimaev’s takedowns. Poirier cited concerns about Strickland’s footwork and stressed the importance of keeping off the fence, while acknowledging the effectiveness of Strickland’s jabs and teep kicks even if he views them as unlikely to decisively change the bout.
Din Thomas, per the report, picked Strickland, arguing that Strickland can blunt Chimaev’s wrestling and that making Chimaev work to take him down could be wearing. Thomas said Strickland’s defensive grappling compares favorably to Du Plessis and highlighted strikes such as jabs and front kicks as tools to discourage takedowns. Michael Chiesa, according to the report, sided with Chimaev, expecting Chimaev to secure takedowns and predicting a competitive fight that could go three rounds to two in the champion’s favor.
