
Sean Strickland became the middleweight champion for the second time, and this time he defeated one of the most dominant fighters in UFC history. Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47). Chimaev dominated the first round with his wrestling, and everyone thought he would do the same in the other rounds.
However, the early wrestling made ‘Borz’ gas out early, and later the new middleweight champion defended the takedowns and even controlled Chimaev for 3 minutes on the ground. This is the biggest upset of the year, fans and many MMA stars believed that because of the brutal weight cut, the Chechnya fighter didn’t recover well.
Joshua Van successfully defended his UFC flyweight title with a dramatic fifth-round TKO over Tatsuro Taira. Many fans mocked Van for being the flyweight champion as he won the belt when Alexandre Pantoja got injured. However, he won dominantly, which makes him the real champ now.
UFC heavyweight star Alexander Volkov earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory against Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Volkov used his leg kicks more and landed some good shots in the second round. In the end, the judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 in favor of Volkov.
Sean Brady defeated Joaquin Buckley by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27). Brady put on a grappling clinic against Buckley, earning a one-sided unanimous decision victory. Additionally, King Green defeated Jeremy Stephens by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:20 of Round 1.
Many said that Sean Strickland only needed to defend the early storm from Khamzat Chimaev and he did it exactly. He defended takedowns well and kept his pressure through jabs. Fans now wonder what’s next for the former middleweight champion, will he move to light heavyweight or call for a rematch? Time will tell.
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