Khamzat Chimaev’s first title defence has been confirmed, as he prepares to put the UFC middleweight belt on the line against Sean Strickland.
Chimaev will take on Strickland in the main event of UFC 328 on 9 May, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Chimaev was expected to fight No 2 contender Nassourdine Imavov next, but instead he is set for what is essentially a grudge match, with Strickland having made various verbal jabs at his former training partner in recent months.
The fight will also see Strickland, ranked third at 185lb, try to regain the title he held from September 2023 until January 2024.
The controversial American dethroned Israel Adesanya in an all-time upset, but he lost the belt in his first defence, suffering a points defeat by Dricus Du Plessis. Strickland, 35, then tried to regain the title in a rematch with Du Plessis last February but fell to another decision loss.
Du Plessis’s next bout was a title defence against Chimaev, who dominated him with a wrestling clinic to realise the championship expectations that had surrounded him for so long.
The Russian, 31, is unbeaten as a professional and has looked almost unstoppable in the Octagon, with health and travel issues proving tougher for him than any opponent.
Chimaev recently claimed that he submitted the outspoken Strickland in a past training session, to which the latter said: “I made him quit training.
“No, [he didn’t submit me]. We were doing positional grappling. ‘Alright, start on my back,’ and I was like… first round, I let him f***ing choke me, because no one gives a f***.
“Let me tell you about this little b***h. I’ll tell you. When I walk into a gym, do you think that I go find the little, weakest man? I say, ‘Let’s spar’? [No], I go find the biggest, baddest motherf*****, and I’m like: ‘Hey, I want to spar you.’ Every time Chimaev would walk in the gym, he would pick the smallest, lowest-level pro and say: ‘But oh, he looks like my opponent.’ He would pick the smallest guy. Chimaev’s a f***ing bully.
“And if you notice what he does in a division, he just runs and f***ing hides. ‘Now I want to go to 205[lb] and fight f***ing Jiri [Prochazka], who’s not even the f***ing champ.’ You just run and f***ing hide. You did it when you trained with us, and you’re doing it in the f***ing division.
“Look at when he fought my boy, Gilbert f***ing Burns, good f***ing family man […] Gilbert Burns f***ing pulled his card. Gilbert Burns is like 5ft 8in and almost f***ed him up, did a God-damn good job. Gilbert Burns is a savage, but it’s like: you’re just a f***ing bully.”
Strickland was referring to one of Chimaev’s welterweight bouts, when he narrowly outpointed Burns in 2022 after surviving a knockdown. The fight was by far the most competitive of Chimaev’s career.
The UFC announced a slew of other fights on Thursday, including five Fight Night main events.
On 25 April, Aljamain Sterling takes on Youssef Zalal; on 2 May, Beneil Dariush faces Quillan Salkilld; and on 16 May, Britain’s Arnold Allen fights Melquizael Costa. Then, on 30 May, Song Yadong faces Deiveson Figueiredo; and on 6 June, Belal Muhammad takes on Gabriel Bonfim.
