The Octagon has headed to the East Coast, with Newark, New Jersey set to play host to a stacked fight card at UFC 328 this weekend.
The card is topped by a pair of world title fights, with the main event featuring middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev putting his belt on the line for the first time as he takes on former champion Sean Strickland, while in the co-main, the undisputed flyweight title will be on the line as Joshua Van faces off against Japan’s Tatsuro Taira.
Ahead of fight night, we take a look at the fight card and pick out three key questions that we’ll get answers to as the action unfolds at Prudential Center on Saturday night.
Can Sean Strickland shock Khamzat Chimaev?
Sean Strickland’s rise from a bit-part player in the welterweight, then middleweight divisions to become an elite operator and, eventually, a world champion has been a remarkable one. But on Saturday night he faces the toughest test of his MMA career.
Khamzat Chimaev is a phenom in the UFC. His brand of smothering wrestling and mat control have made him a puzzle that nobody in MMA has been able to solve so far. Unbeaten at 15-0, the Chechen world champion is looking to make the first defense of his title, and is a sizeable betting favorite for Saturday night’s title fight.
Most are expecting Chimaev to rinse and repeat his title-winning performance against Dricus Du Plessis, but Strickland is super well-rounded, and some believe the Octagon veteran has good enough takedown defense to keep the fight standing. And with the fight on the feet, Strickland’s educated pressure and smart MMA boxing could be good enough to outwork Chimaev over five rounds.
Can Strickland keep the fight standing for long enough to impose his striking game on Chimaev, or will it be another dominant display from “Borz?”
Is Joshua Van a true champion at 125 pounds?
Joshua Van heads into the event as the undisputed UFC flyweight champion, but his status as the world’s top 125-pound fighter in MMA gloves remains unconfirmed.
A freak injury to then-champion Alexandre Pantoja just 26 seconds into his title fight with Van saw him lose the fight and his belt, as an elated Van became champion in a blink of an eye. The big question now is whether or not he can hang onto his title as he puts the belt on the line for the first time against Japan’s Tatsuro Taira.
Taira brings a tough, well-rounded game to Newark, with the Japanese contender capable of defeating almost anyone in the world with strikes or submissions. The bookies fancy Taira to get the job done this weekend, but all eyes will be on Van, who is under big pressure to prove that he’s the true king of the flyweight division.
Which fringe heavyweight will break into title contendership?
With Tom Aspinall working his way back from double eye surgery, the heavyweight division continues to roll on, with Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane set to face off for the interim title at The White House in June. Meanwhile, this weekend, two contenders on the cusp of the title picture will do battle at UFC 328 as Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes Acosta face off in New Jersey.
Both men have aspirations of breaking into championship contention, with a win for either man likely to push them into a number-one contender fight towards the end of the year. But which one will it be?
Cortes Acosta has been one of the big heavyweight success stories of the past 18 months, while Volkov should probably be ranked higher than he is, with his split-decision loss to Gane controversial, to say the least.
We know Aspinall will return to face the winner of the White House interim title fight, but who’s next in line after that? Saturday night’s winner may well be that man.
