The UFC is back in Newark, New Jersey, for UFC 328. The UFC’s last appearance at the Prudential Center came in June 2025. One of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Khamzat Chimaev, is defending his UFC Middleweight Championship against former title holder Sean Strickland in the Main Event. The second championship fight on this card is Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira for the 125-pound title.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Chimaev is a -500 favorite while the former champion is a +380 underdog. In the co-main event, the challenger is a -155 favorite, while the champion is a +130 underdog.
12:50 a.m. ET: Sean Strickland defeats Khamzat Chimaev by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Sean Strickland defeats Khamzat Chimaev by split decision to become a two-time UFC Middleweight Champion. Strickland is now 2-2 in UFC title fights with wins over Israel Adesanya and Khamzat Chimaev. This is Chimaev’s first loss in his professional MMA career.
Strickland recorded 123 significant strikes, 25 more than Chimaev. Chimaev finished with nine takedowns and 7:16 of control time.
12:43 a.m. ET: Chimaev vs. Strickland – Round 5
Chimaev scored a takedown at the beginning of the final round. When the fight returned to the feet, Strickland got back into rhythm. I think Chimaev did enough to retain the title.
10-9 Chimaev, 48-47 Chimaev
12:35 a.m. ET: Chimaev vs. Strickland – Round 4
Chimaev lands a big right hand over a minute into the fourth round. The champion landed multiple effective combinations. Strickland was bleeding a ton out of his nose. At the end of the round, Chimaev landed a takedown.
10-9 Chimaev, 38-38
12:30 a.m. ET: Chimaev vs. Strickland – Round 3
Both fighters were trading punches in the third round. Strickland landed more often in the third round than Chimaev did.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Strickland is -130 while Chimaev is +100.
10-9 Strickland, 29-28 Strickland
12:23 a.m. ET: Chimaev vs. Strickland – Round 2
Strickland found success on the feet in the second round and then got Chimaev on his back on the ground. The challenger dominated Chimaev in the second.
10-9 Strickland, 19-19
12:17 a.m. ET: Chimaev vs. Strickland – Round 1
Chimaev landed his first takedown attempt in the first 20 seconds of the fight. Strickland didn’t land a significant strike in the first round as Chimaev had 4:47 of control time.
10-9 Chimaev
11:48 p.m. ET: Joshua Van defeats Tatsuro Taira by fifth-round TKO
Joshua Van has successfully defended the UFC Flyweight Championship against Tatsuro Taira in the co-main event of UFC 328. Van has now won seven straight bouts and two consecutive title fights.
He is 15-1 in his previous 16 fights. Van totaled 131 significant strikes at a rate of 62 percent.
11:43 p.m. ET: Van vs. Taira – Round 4
Taira was aggressive at the start of the fourth and landed a takedown. With two minutes left in the round, Van got back to his feet. Van landed a few punches, but I still don’t think he did enough in this round.
10-9 Taira, 38-37 Van
11:37 p.m. ET: Van vs. Taira – Round 3
Van picked up where he left off in the second round as he continued to land big punches. Van knocked Taira down again and landed a takedown as well. This was pure domination from Van throughout the entire third round.
10-8 Van, 29-27 Van
11:30 p.m. ET: Van vs. Taira – Round 2
Van began to find success at the start of the second round. But then, Taira landed another takedown. With less than 20 seconds left in the second round, Van landed a massive knockdown.
10-9 Van, 19-19
11:23 p.m. ET: Van vs. Taira – Round 1
In the first minute of the fight, Taira scored a takedown on Van. Taira landed four takedowns in the first round. Van got back to his feet, but Taira kept taking him down.
10-9 Taira
10:56 p.m. ET: Alexander Volkov defeats Waldo Cortes Acosta by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Alexander Volkov picked up the victory against Waldo Cortes Acosta at UFC 328. Volkov landed 88 significant strikes compared to Cortes Acosta’s 54. 43 of his 88 significant strikes came via leg kicks.
Volkov has won his second straight fight and is 6-1 in his last seven bouts. This loss ends Cortes Acosta’s previous three-fight winning streak.
10:52 p.m. ET: Volkov vs. Cortes Acosta – Round 3
Cortes Acosta landed an eye poke on Volkov, but the fight continued. After that, Cortes Acosta connected on a few big punches. With the leg kicks, Volkov did enough to win the final round.
10-9, 29-28 Volkov
10:45 p.m. ET: Volkov vs. Cortes Acosta – Round 2
Volkov was passive at the beginning of this round but picked up his pace. Volkov stunned Cortes Acosta, but he kept moving forward.
10-9 Volkov, 19-19
10:38 p.m. ET: Volkov vs. Cortes Acosta – Round 1
As expected, the size difference between the two was glaring from the start of the fight. Cortes Acosta landed the more effective strikes in this round.
10-9 Cortes Acosta
10:21 p.m. ET: Sean Brady defeats Joaquin Buckley by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
Sean Brady beat Joaquin Buckley by unanimous decision. This was pure dominance from Brady from start to finish. Brady landed 245 total strikes, 224 more than Buckley.
In this fight, Brady finished with four takedowns and 12:09 of control time. Brady is now 19-2 in his career and 4-1 in his previous five contests in the UFC. Meanwhile, Buckley has now suffered back-to-back losses.
10:16 p.m. ET: Brady vs. Buckley – Round 3
Brady dominated this round from start to finish as he did in the first two. Because of the powerful punches on the ground, I have the third round scored a 10-8 for Brady.
10-8, 30-26 Brady
10:09 p.m. ET: Brady vs. Buckley – Round 2
Brady landed another takedown in the first 30 seconds of the second round. Buckley got back up but was taken down once again by Brady. Brady now has 7:45 of control time and 150 total strikes.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Brady is currently a -1450 favorite.
10-9, 20-18 Brady
10:02 p.m. ET: Brady vs. Buckley – Round 1
Buckley successfully defended Brady’s first two takedowns. Brady completed his third takedown attempt and got the fight to the ground. Then, Brady was unloading ground and pound punches on Buckley.
10-9 Brady
9:46 p.m. ET: Chris Weidman is going into the UFC Hall of Fame!
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman is the latest inductee in the 2026 UFC Hall of Fame class. He will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame during International Fight Week before UFC 329 on July 11.
9:33 p.m. ET: King Green defeats Jeremy Stephens by first-round submission
King Green picked up a first-round victory over Jeremy Stephens with a submission. Green is on a three-fight winning streak.
Green started talking to Stephens during the round while having his hands down. In this round, Green landed powerful jabs. Green kicked Stephens below the waist, which paused the fight. Green landed significant strikes at will, hurting Stephens.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Green was +1600 to win by first-round submission before the fight.
Main card
UFC Middleweight Championship Bout: Khamzat Chimaev (c) vs. Sean Strickland
Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira via fifth-round TKO
Alexander Volkov def. Waldo Cortes Acosta via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Sean Brady def. Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
King Green def. Jeremy Stephens via first-round submission
Prelims
Ateba Gautier def. Ozzy Diaz via second-round knockout
Yaroslav Amosov def. Joel Alvarez via second-round submission
Grant Dawson def. Mateusz Rebecki via third-round submission
Jim Miller def. Jared Gordon via first-round submission
Early Prelims
Roman Kopylov def. Marco Tulio via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Pat Sabatini def. William Gomis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos via third-round submission
Jose Ochoa def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
