UFC 328 Results: Strickland Vs. Chimaev

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s live coverage of UFC 328, headlined by Khamzat Chimaev versus Sean Strickland and emanating from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. 

Chimaev will be defending the UFC Middleweight Championship for the first time since claiming it from Dricus Du Plessis in August last year, looking to extend his unblemished 15-0 record to 16-0 in MMA – he is 9-0 in UFC specifically. He will be fighting a personal rival, someone he trained with at Xtreme Couture, and a former Middleweight Champion in his own right in Strickland. 

Strickland won the title from Israel Adesanya in September 2023, losing it in his first defense the following January to Du Plessis, and failing to recapture the title in February last year. He beat Anthony Hernandez in February to secure the fight this weekend. 

Chimaev's will not be the only title on the line, as Joshua Van will be defending his UFC Flyweight Championship against Tatsuro Taira in the co-main event. They were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 327, but the fight was postponed after Van sustained an injury. 

Prior to that, the main card will kick off with lightweight action between King Green and Jeremy Stephens, followed by Sean Brady versus Joaquin Buckley at welterweight, and then a heavyweight bout between Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes Acosta. 

UFC 328 will stream via Paramount+ in the US with the main card due to begin at 9 PM ET. The early preliminaries begin at 5 PM ET and the preliminaries begin at 7 PM ET. 

Early Prelims:

• Flyweight: Jose Ochoa def. Clayton Carpenter via Unanimous Decision (30-27; 30-27; 30-27)
• Middleweight: Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos via Submission in Round Three
• Featherweight: Pat Sabatini def. William Gomis via Unanimous Decision (30-27; 30-27; 29-28)
• Middleweight: Roman Kopylov def. Marco Tulio via Unanimous Decision (29-28; 29-28; 29-28)

Prelims: 

• Lightweight: Jim Miller def. Jared Gordon via Submission in Round One
• Lightweight: Grant Dawson def. Mateuz Rebecki via Submission in Round Three
• Welterweight: Yaroslav Amosov def. Joel Alvarez via Submission in Round Two 
• Middleweight: Ateba Gautier def. Osman Diaz via TKO in Round Two

The first round begins and King Green almost slips on a teep before slipping an overhand from Jeremy Stephens. Stephens catches Green with a left hook as he tries to come forward. Green rubs his head. 

Green throws a kick to the body and Stephens comes in for the clinch. Green approaching this casually with a low-to-no guard, stings Stephens with left hands and starts to open up before landing a low blow to prompt an official time out. 

Green gets away with a warning and no point deduction. The fight resumes and Stephens is coming forward, Green stings Stephens with straights and kicks before taking him down. He's throwing all kinds of shots, punches and elbows, at Stephens on the ground. Stephens looking for the Kimura lock now, but Green manages to slip it and sinks more elbows in. Green cinches in the rear choke and gets the submission. 

King Green def. Jeremy Stephens via Submission in Round One