Sean Strickland has officially landed the most strikes out of any middleweight from throughout UFC history.
The controversial American became a two-time champion at 185 pounds in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 328 card in Newark.
Strickland beat Khamzat Chimaev inside the Prudential Center, marking his second time upsetting the odds to pull off a shock middleweight title crowning inside the Octagon.
The result has put the 35-year-old among the most successful fighters in the division’s history, and he surpassed a couple of fellow greats to set a new record along the way.
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Sean Strickland has the most strikes in UFC middleweight history after going 5 rounds with Khamzat Chimaev
The key to Strickland’s triumph in Newark was avoiding the fate that befell his two-time rival, Dricus du Plessis, last August.
Chimaev dominated Du Plessis in Chicago, accumulating over 20 minutes of control time to secure the middleweight title.
After surviving some scary positions on the ground in round one, the American was able to keep much of the UFC 328 main event in his wheelhouse on the feet.
That was able to set the stage for Strickland to not only become champion once again, but also set a new striking record at 185 pounds.
He entered the Octagon on May 9 having landed the fourth most total strikes in UFC middleweight history, behind only former champion Michael Bisping, current contender Marvin Vettori, and fan favorite Chris Leben.
After five rounds against ‘Borz’, Strickland surpassed all three to set a new record of 1,799 total strikes, beating previous record-holder Leben by just seven shots.
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Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images
In addition to total strikes landed, Strickland also holds top spot for the total significant strikes landed. He sits more comfortably in that category, over 300 clear of Bisping and 400 of the next best active middleweight, Vettori.
The American champion’s next chance to extend his leads for those records looks likely to come against a familiar foe in Nassourdine Imavov.
With Chimaev expected to depart the division, Strickland has pointed to Imavov as the contender whom he plans to fight in the first defense of his second reign.
He remains without a…
2026-05-10 22:00:00
