Just days after edging Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, middleweight champion Sean Strickland revealed he went into the fight dealing with a shoulder injury suffered in training.
Days after reclaiming the UFC middleweight title at UFC 328, Sean Strickland said he entered his fight with Khamzat Chimaev carrying a damaged shoulder. The American veteran scored a split-decision win over Chimaev last weekend, then explained that the injury happened during sparring in the final days before the bout.
That admission adds another layer to a fight that already had major stakes for the 185-pound division. With the win, Strickland reasserted himself at the top of one of the UFC’s most volatile weight classes, while Chimaev missed a chance to fully cement his status as the division’s most dangerous title threat. In practical terms, Strickland’s victory could set up another elite contender showdown, while Chimaev may now need one more statement win before getting back into the title picture.
Strickland said the injury happened on Tuesday while sparring with Johnny Eblen, the PFL champion, at Plinio Cruz’s gym. According to Strickland, Eblen shot in on his legs, sending him backward into a brick wall and causing his shoulder to pop out. He later described the injury as a Grade 1 AC joint tear and said he was lying in bed that night thinking about how reckless the whole situation was.
Still, the bigger takeaway is pure Strickland: even after winning a belt, he framed the episode less as bad luck and more as a lesson he probably will not fully learn. He said he has no plans to stop sparring the week before a fight, though next time he would prefer a gym with something other than brick walls surrounding the action.
Among American MMA fans, that revelation will only reinforce Strickland’s image as one of the sport’s most unapologetically old-school competitors — equal parts tough, stubborn and self-destructive. It also sharpens the narrative around Chimaev, who remains a massive threat but now faces questions after coming up short against a champion who says he was compromised going in.
What comes next is the real story: whether Strickland can stay healthy for his first defense after UFC 328, and whether Chimaev can force his way back into the title conversation with a performance too big to ignore.
