Long before Sean Strickland reclaimed the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328, MMA icon Khabib Nurmagomedov had already mapped out exactly how things might unravel for Khamzat Chimaev.
In a podcast recorded roughly a year ago, the undefeated former lightweight champion offered a breakdown of what he saw as a fundamental flaw in Chimaev’s approach to competition. His words, largely overlooked at the time, now read like a roadmap for Saturday night’s outcome.
“I always had the same gameplan, I was taking my opponent to the ground,” Khabib said. “And I would attempt 100 takedowns if required. But you don’t see that in Khamzat’s matches. He usually starts going full wrestling, and when it doesn’t work out, he starts striking with those guys while he is gassed.”
Rather than committing to a single strategy and trusting it across all five rounds, Chimaev tends to exhaust himself in the early going through heavy grappling exertion. He then pivots to a striking game at precisely the moment his gas tank is most compromised.
“But if he started just striking with Gilbert and Kamaru,” Khabib added, “he’d have much better matches.”
The blueprint Khabib described played out at UFC 328. In Round 1, Chimaev was relentless, dragging Strickland down repeatedly, seizing back control, and coming within seconds of a rear-naked choke finish.
But as the rounds wore on, the effects of that early investment became visible. By Round 3, Chimaev had largely abandoned the wrestling that defined his first frame, choosing instead to stand and trade with a man who has made a career out of absorbing pressure and returning fire. Strickland’s jab, consistent and precise, began to dictate the pace.
Rounds 4 and 5 saw Chimaev find moments of success, landing heavy right hooks and effective body work that had Strickland wiping blood from a damaged nose. Chimaev even managed late takedowns and back control in the championship rounds.
But the sustained, suffocating wrestling pressure that characterized his first-round performance was simply not there in the same measure.
When the final horn sounded, both men traded exchanges all the way to the buzzer, leaving the decision with the judges. The cards came back 48-47, 48-47, and 47-48, with two of the three judges favoring Strickland. Sean Strickland was crowned UFC middleweight champion for the second time.
