It is now official,Khamzat Chimaev will make his first middleweight title defense againstSean Strickland on May 9 at the main event ofUFC 328. After weeks of speculation, the twocontroversial fighterswill face each other while still immersed in a war of words that has led to this confrontation, leavingNassourdine Imavovas the big loser. In addition,Dana White-UFC boss- and his team have announced more fights that will be talked about in the coming weeks.
In August 2025, the Chechen fighter went over Dricus Du Plessis thanks to his grappling and became the new 185-pound monarch. Since then, there have been several rumors about his return, and even a possible move up to light heavyweight for the double belt, but the company has "forced" him to make at least one defense before taking that step. He will do so once Ramadan is over and he can prepare, with the Prudential Center - New Jersey - as the setting for a luxury showdown.
It will be a clash of styles between Chimaev's wrestling, considered one of the best in the company's history, and Strickland's striking, whose KO victory over Anthony Hernandez last February earned him the opportunity he had been asking for to try to regain the belt. However, it should not be forgotten that the American fighter also has a background in grappling, but since he suffered a serious motorcycle accident, he decided to focus on stand-up fighting.
The big loser in this situation is Nassourdine Imavov, who with his victory over Caio Borralho last September at UFC Paris was the favorite to get the title shot. However, the fact that he did not finish, coupled with the surprising performance of Strickland - and subsequent clash with Chimaev - has relegated him to the background.
The UFC announces several fight cards
Beyond this great fight, the UFC 328 card will feature some very interesting matchups, such as Alexander Volkov vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the heavyweight division. Surely the winner will be on the verge of a title shot, and with two punchers it is expected to be an action-packed fight. Another fight that was already announced was Sean Brady vs Joaquin Buckley in the welterweight division, another clash of styles between grappler and striker that will allow to dynamite a division full of contenders.
In the light heavyweight division, Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov will try to finally settle their rivalry, as in their first encounter last December the fight ended in a draw. In addition, there will be two duels that promise a finish such as King Green vs Jeremy Stephens - two lightweight veterans - or Ateba Gautier and Ozzy Diaz in the middleweight division.
The company also announced other fights for upcoming events in the second quarter of 2026, such as Kyler Phillips vs Charles Jourdain -April 18 in Canada-, Beneil Dariush vs Quillan Salkilld -May 2 in Perth-, Arnold Allen vs Melquizael Costa -May 16 in Las Vegas- or Belal Muhammad vs Gabriel Bonfim -June 6 in Las Vegas-. In addition, it was announced that the main event of UFC Macau on May 30 will be Song Yadong vs Deiveson Figueiredo at bantamweight, supported by the fights of Mingyang Zhang vs Alonzo Menifield and Sergei Pavlovich vs Tallison Teixeira.