Sean Strickland reclaimed the UFC middleweight championship for the second time on Saturday night, defeating Khamzat Chimaev via split decision in a bout that failed to match the vitriol and threats of violence that characterized the build-up to UFC 328's main event.
Strickland won two scorecards 48-47, while Chimaev took the other at 48-47, in front of a crowd of 17,783 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The 35-year-old American, who became the second former middleweight to regain the title, mimed placing the belt around his waist after the fifth round ended. Chimaev later helped him put on the championship belt inside the octagon.
Strickland admitted he went too far in his pre-fight trash talk, which included threats to shoot Chimaev and labeling him a terrorist due to his ties to Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. He apologized to fans of all ethnicities and religions after the fight.
Chimaev, who suffered his first loss in 16 professional fights, is of Chechen ethnicity and fights under the UAE banner. He had countered by threatening to remove Strickland's head. UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Chimaev expressed interest in moving up a weight class after the fight.
The fighters tapped gloves to start the contest, and the pre-fight hostilities never spilled into the cage. Strickland acknowledged he weaponized stereotypes to sell the bout, saying, "I should be a better example when I try to sell these fights for you, fans."
In the co-main event, Joshua Van mauled Tatsuro Taira into a bloody mess, successfully defending his 125-pound championship via stoppage at 1:32 of round five. Van dominated with elite boxing, knocking down Taira with a violent right hand in the second round and repeatedly battering his face and body.
Van and Taira marked the first UFC title fight between two fighters born in the 2000s. Van, 24, of Myanmar, has won seven straight fights and 10 of 11 since signing with the UFC. Taira failed in his bid to become the first Japanese champion in UFC history.
Other main card results: Sean Brady defeated Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision; King Green choked out Jeremy Stephens; and Alexander Volkov beat Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision. White noted abnormal betting patterns ahead of the Brady fight but found no wrongdoing.
On the undercard, 42-year-old Jim Miller submitted Jared Gordon with a rear naked choke at 3:29 of the first round, extending his UFC records for most fights (47) and career wins (28). Miller's 14-year-old son Wyatt, who battled rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer, is now cancer-free. Miller said, "He ended up kicking the heck out of cancer. He's all good today."
