UFC 328: Khamzat Chimaev heavy favorite vs. Sean Strickland

UFC 328 will be headlined by Khamzat Chimaev making his first defense as the middleweight champion against former champion Sean Strickland at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Saturday night.

Chimaev will enter as the heavy favorite, with his odds shifting from -525 to -550 at BetMGM by Friday. However, the money was largely split, with Chimaev backed by 51%, while Strickland had drawn 89% of the total bets at +400.

The UFC allowed both men to do the traditional ceremonial faceoff Thursday evening before security pulled both off the stage after Chimaev (15-0 MMA) kicked Strickland (30-7 MMA) in the leg, marking a dark climax to a chaotic week of separation before the fight.

UFC CEO Dana White said the rivalry has bad blood, which has made it a top-three rivalry in the promotion's history.

Hostility aside, Chimaev enters the fight with four submission wins in nine UFC matches. Strickland earned the title shot off a third-round TKO defeat of Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston in February.

The fight is set as a five-rounder, marking Chimaev's first title defense while Strickland attempts to regain the title after relinquishing it to Dricus du Plessis in January of 2024 at UFC 297.

The co-main event sees a re-booked flyweight title fight between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira. The pair were supposed to meet at UFC 327 last month in Miami, Fla., but Van sustained an undisclosed minor injury that shifted the fight to this event.

Van (16-2 MMA) became the new UFC flyweight champion in December at UFC 323, as an arm injury to then-champion Alexandre Pantoja ended the fight after just 26 seconds. He is the first fighter born this century to become a UFC champion, while Taira (18-1 MMA) aims to be the first UFC champion from Japan with a win over Van, who is from Myanmar.

Taira opened as the -175 favorite but has seen those odds shift a bit to -160. He has been backed by 52% of the fight money, while Van has drawn 61% of the bets at +135.

The main card gets underway on Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET.

OTHER MAIN CARD FIGHTS

--Alexander Volkov (39-11) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (17-2), heavyweight

Volkov opened as the -190 favorite but has been lightly backed with 33% of the total bets and 44% of the money. Meanwhile, Cortes-Acosta has seen his odds shift from +155 to +125, setting this up as one of the most tightly-contested fights on the card.

--Sean Brady (18-2) vs. Joaquin Buckley (21-7), welterweight

This is a battle of highly-ranked contenders who are both coming off losses -- Brady to Michael Morales and Buckley to 38-year-old Kamaru Usman.

Buckley has been a very popular underdog, garnering 73% of the total bets and 70% of the money while shifting from +155 to +140. Brady is now -170 after opening as the -185 favorite.

--King Green (34-17-1) vs. Jeremy Stephens (29-22), lightweight

Stephens failed to make weight, coming in at 160 points. It's the second miss at 145 pounds for Stephens, who hasn't won a UFC fight in eight years. He returned from a 1-2 stint in the PFL to lose to Mason Jones last year, and will now be fighting for a 30% reduction in pay Saturday night.

Both fighters are 39, but Green is coming off wins over Lance Gibson Jr. and an upset of Daniel Zellhuber.

Green is one of the heaviest favorites on the card, sitting at -400 on Friday while backed by 62% of the money. Stephens' +310 underdog odds has drawn 72% of the total bets.

--Field Level Media