Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes Khamzat Chimaev did enough to beat Sean Strickland.
Another split-decision result from UFC 328 is still fueling debate, and this time Henry Cejudo has stepped into the conversation. Speaking about the main event between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland, the former two-division UFC champion said he believes Chimaev should have gotten the win over the American at UFC 328.
Cejudo’s take matters because close middleweight title-eliminator type fights tend to reshape the division quickly, and this one appears headed for lingering controversy. In the current UFC landscape, a razor-thin result between two top contenders can easily lead to calls for a rematch, especially when one fighter’s wrestling control and the other’s late-round pressure are judged so differently.
“I honestly think Khamzat won that fight, even though I was rooting for Strickland,” Cejudo said. “For Sean, it would have been huge to get a win over a fighter nobody had beaten before that. I think Khamzat faded early because of the weight cut, but even with that, the second round was the clearest one for Strickland. I need to watch the fight again, but from what I saw, it could have been 4-1 for Chimaev or maybe 3-2 for him. As an American patriot, I have to be objective and admit Chimaev won.”
That breakdown taps into the biggest argument coming out of the fight: how much value judges placed on Chimaev’s early success versus Strickland’s work as the bout wore on. American fans have long been split on that issue in close UFC fights, particularly when a pressure boxer faces a grappler with dominant stretches.
The stakes are significant at 185 pounds. If Strickland’s official win holds its weight with matchmakers, he stays in prime position for another marquee fight near the top of the division. If the pushback grows louder, Chimaev’s supporters will have a real case that he remains one of the most dangerous unanswered problems in the weight class, especially given how dominant he has looked in key stretches of recent fights.
As a reminder, Chimaev lost to Strickland by split decision in the UFC 328 main event, and the fallout from that scorecard may be just beginning.
