UFC locks in Chimaev-Strickland, other main events
UFC CEO Dana White announced a slew of new fights Thursday, most notably a middleweight championship bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland on May 9.
The two will battle in Newark, N.J., in the main event of UFC 328.
White confirmed several other main events for upcoming UFC Fight Night shows:
- April 18: Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Malott (Winnipeg)
- April 25: Aljamain Sterling vs. Youssef Zalal (Vegas)
- May 2: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates (Perth)
- May 16: Arnold Allen vs. Melquizael Costa (Vegas)
- May 30: Song Yadong vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (Macau)
- June 6: Belal Muhammad vs. Gabriel Bonfim (Vegas)
The biggest fight - Chimaev vs. Strickland - will take place after months of animosity between the two. The bout will mark Chimaev's first defense of the 185-pound belt, which he won with dominant grappling against Dricus Du Plessis last August.
Strickland, known for his forward pressure, striking defense, and takedown defense, is coming off one of the sharpest performances of his career, earning a TKO stoppage of Anthony Hernandez on Feb. 21. The victory wound up catapulting him past No. 2-ranked contender Nassourdine Imavov for the title shot. Strickland is ranked No. 3.
White revealed the rest of the UFC 328 main card:
- Alexander Volkov vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (heavyweight)
- Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley (welterweight)
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov (light heavyweight)
- King Green vs. Jeremy Stephens (lightweight)
Brady and Buckley were initially slated to headline the April 25 Fight Night, which is now going to featherweights Sterling and Zalal.
Other bouts of note that White announced:
- Charles Jourdain vs. Kyler Phillips (April 18, Winnipeg)
- Beneil Dariush vs. Quillan Salkilld (May 2, Perth)
- Zhang Mingyang vs. Alonzo Menifield (May 30, Macau)
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tallison Teixeira (May 30, Macau)