Khamzat Chimaev has never lost. Sean Strickland has never stopped coming forward. Saturday night in Newark, those two facts collide — and the UFC middleweight title is on the line. UFC 328 takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with the five-bout main card starting at approximately 9pm ET on Paramount+.
Chimaev enters as the -500 favourite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with Strickland priced as the +380 underdog. The gap in the odds reflects a significant gap in recent form — but Strickland has made a career out of proving people wrong, and nobody in the middleweight division hits more or hurts more consistently.
Chimaev — The Unbeaten Champion With Records Nobody Else Touches
Khamzat Chimaev is 15-0. Every single fight in his professional career has ended in a victory, and nine of those have come inside the UFC. He has six knockout wins, six submission wins, and three decision wins. He is a six-time Performance of the Night winner, a one-time Fight of the Night recipient, and the first Chechen-born fighter to win a UFC championship.
The numbers Chimaev has put up inside the Octagon are genuinely extraordinary. He holds the UFC record for most total strikes landed in a single fight with 529, the most ground strikes landed with 517, and the most head strikes landed with 411. His most recent outing — a unanimous decision win over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 last August — was another dominant performance that underlined exactly why the oddsmakers rate him so heavily.
At 32, Chimaev is in the prime of his career. He is faster, stronger, and more technically complete than he has ever been. The question Saturday is whether anyone in the world at 185 pounds can stop him.
Strickland — The Former Champion Who Refuses to Quit
Sean Strickland arrives at UFC 328 with a 30-7 career record, 12 knockout wins, and a reputation as one of the most relentless pressure fighters in the division. He has won five of his last seven bouts, including a devastating knockout of Anthony Hernandez in February, and he carries more significant strikes landed in UFC middleweight history than any fighter who has ever competed at the weight — 1,575 in total, with 2,307 across his entire UFC career, second only to one other fighter in the promotion’s history.
Strickland is a former UFC middleweight champion. He recorded the 2024 Upset of the Year when he defeated Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. He is 35 years old, experienced, thick-skinned, and completely unintimidated by the occasion. Against Chimaev, he will need every bit of that experience.
His path to victory is narrow but real. Strickland needs to make the fight ugly, avoid takedowns, and keep throwing until something lands. He has the chin and the volume to stay in fights longer than anyone expects. Whether that is enough against an unbeaten champion of Chimaev’s calibre is what Saturday night will answer.
Full UFC 328 Main Card and Odds
All odds from DraftKings Sportsbook and subject to change.
Khamzat Chimaev (-500) vs Sean Strickland (+380) — Middleweight title
Joshua Van (+130) vs Tatsuro Taira (-155) — Flyweight
Alexander Volkov (-125) vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta (+105) — Heavyweight
Sean Brady (-198) vs Joaquin Buckley (+164) — Welterweight
King Green (-440) vs Jeremy Stephens (+340) — Lightweight
In the lightweight co-feature, King Green is a heavy -440 favourite over the returning Jeremy Stephens. Stephens, fighting in his 36th UFC bout, is a pure striker with genuine knockout power in his hands. But analysts expect Green to be faster, higher-paced, and to carry more striking tools across the board — with Green predicted to control the fight and take a clear decision win.
UFC 328 takes place Saturday at Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. The main card begins at approximately 9pm ET on Paramount+.
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