Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is headed back to Newark, N.J., later TONIGHT (Sat., May 9, 2026) for UFC 328, featuring a massive Middleweight title fight as division kingpin, Khamzat Chimaev, will defend his belt for the first time against Sean Strickland. In the co-main event of the championship doubleheader, Joshua Van will defend his Flyweight title for the first time against Tatsuro Taira.
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UFC 328 CHEAT SHEET
What UFC event is on tonight? UFC 328: “Chimaev vs. Strickland”
Who is fighting tonight at UFC 328?
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland Middleweight title fight is the five-round main event.
What time does UFC 328? TONIGHT (Sat., May 9, 2026), beginning at 5 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
Where will UFC 328 take place? Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
How can I watch UFC 328? The Paramount+ “Prelims” matches online are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
How do I bet on UFC 328? Checkout the latest lines right here.
Where can I get live UFC 328 updates and results? Get full UFC 328 play-by-play updates and live coverage here!
Nine months after winning UFC’s Middleweight title with a dominant win over Dricus du Plessis, Khamzat is set for his first title defense. The Boogeyman of the 185-pound weight class has been running roughshod over both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions the past few years, and now that he has gold draped over his shoulder, he is ready to prove that he can become the promotion’s next dominant champion. The issue with that is that he has never been one to be overly-active, other than at the very beginning of his UFC career, so many feel he’s simply wasting the prime years of his career (and holding up the rest of the division) on the bench. Still, he is without a doubt one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport and once he gets a successful defense under his belt, pun intended, his stock will rise even further.
As for Strickland, he would love nothing more than to reclaim the title he lost to the aforementioned du Plessis after a very short reign. For all the faults he has when he runs his mouth, Strickland has more than proven himself inside the cage. In Chimaev, however, he is fighting a different beast, one whom he simply doesn’t like. Indeed, the two men have been going at each other over the media for some time now, and it didn’t take long for them to get physical once they came face-to-face for the first time (see it here). In their second face off of the week, the dramatics were dialed-down a tad thanks to the bevy of enforcement around to prevent them from putting hands on each other. Nevertheless, the two will have the chance to really put paws on one another later tonight, and if Strickland wants to be the first to defeat “Borz.” Can he do it? Sure, anything is possible. That said Strickland will have to be pretty much perfect and be able to keep up with the champ’s intense pace. And let’s not forget about his suffocating grappling, which has given everyone inside the Octagon trouble. This fight has all the makings of an all-out war.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card/Injuries
Former Light Heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz, was set to rematch Bogdan Guskov at this event before “Polish Power” Blachowicz had to bow out with an injury. A replacement was not found and the bout was ultimately scrapped … for now.
New Blood:
No newcomers at this event!
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Ateba Abega Gautier has lived up the hype so far inside the Octagon, going undefeated (4-0), including three first round knockout wins. “The Silent Assassin” will look to extend his overall win streak to 10 straight when he faces off against Osman Diaz, who is just 1-1 inside the Octagon. He has a great chance to shock everyone with a big win over Gautier in the featured fight in the undercard.
Yaroslav Amosov had himself an impressive UFC debut, defeating long-time Octagon veteran, Neil Magny, via first round submission in Dec. 2025 (highlights). The former Bellator MMA champion will now look to make it two-for-two when he battles Joel Alvarez in a Welterweight affair. Alvarez is on quite a roll, winning his last four fights with the promotion.
Mateusz Rebecki started his mixed martial arts (MMA) career with a nice 19-1 mark in his first 20 fights, which included winning his first three fights under UFC’s banner. Since then, however, he has gone 1-3 and is currently on a two-fight losing streak. His opponent, Grant Dawson, is also coming off a defeat, knockout to Manuel Torres (see it here).
Long-time UFC veteran, Jim Miller, is back for another fight inside the Octagon. At age 42, Miller has competed for the promotion 46 times — yes, you read that correctly — and isn’t slowing down. Miller was out of action for more than one year after taking time to be with his son, who recently beat cancer. He will throw down against Jared Gordon, who, like Miller, is hoping to get back into the win column after getting knocked out by Rafa Garcia (highlights).
Roman Kopylov is in desperate need of a win after dropping his last two fights under UFC’s banner, with his last victory coming in Jan. 2025. His opponent, Marco Tulio, saw his 10-fight win streak go up in smoke in his last outing after Christian Leroy Duncan knocked him out (see it again here).
Pat Sabatini has been firing on all cylinders as of late, winning his last three fights to improve his UFC record to 8-2. He will attempt to secure his first four-fight win streak in eight years when he battles William Gomis, who is 5-1 inside the Octagon and is coming off a win over Robert Ruchala back in Sept. 2025.
Surging Middleweight contender, Baisangur Susurkaev, will attempt to move to 12-0 and win his third straight inside the Octagon when he goes head-up against Djorden Santos. Susarkaev is a Contender Series product and has only gone the distance once in his career. As for Santos, he, too, is coming out of Contender Series and is 1-1 so far in his young UFC career.
Clayton Carpenter and Jose Ochoa will open up the event in a Flyweight bout. Carpenter started off 2-0 in his UFC career, but has dropped his last two. As for Ochoa, he is 1-2 inside the Octagon and is coming off a tough loss at the hands of Asu Almabayev.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Jeremy Stephens found himself back in the Octagon following a short stint with PFL, but he lost his return bout against Mason Jones in May 2025. To make matters worse, “Lil Heathen” missed weight by four pounds for his follow up bout against King Green, which means he will have to fork over a huge chunk of his purse (and King could use it). To top it all off, he is just 1-8-1 in his last 10 fights, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if the promotion cuts him with a loss.
Interest Level: 8/10
In the co-main event, Van will attempt to lock down his first title defense after winning the belt back in Dec. 2026 after “defeating” Alexandre Pantoja. Indeed, many want to put an asterisk on his championship-winning performance since Pantoja suffered an unfortunate injury, but Van can wipe all of that away with a successful first defense. It won’t be a walk in the park, however, because Taira is as skilled and dangerous as they come. He is 18-1 as a professional with his lone loss coming at the hands of Brandon Royval in Oct. 2024. Since then, however, he has gotten back on track with two stoppage wins over Hyun Sung Park and Brandon Moreno. Now, he will attempt to cut Van’s title reign short before it can pick up much steam. I expect this one to be a highly-competitive as both men have a lot to prove and a lot of future big paydays riding on the line.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta continues his ascension up the Heavyweight ladder thanks to his impressive 10-2 mark inside the Octagon. Currently on a three-fight win streak, “Salsa Boy” is ranked No. 4 in the division and hopes to climb even higher if he can take out Alexander Volkov. “Drago” is seeded No. 2 at the moment and is 5-1 inside the Octagon. The winner of this fight puts himself in great position to call for a title fight.
Sean Brady’s path to a Welterweight title fight came to a halt after Michael Morales ended his three-fight win steak via first-round knockout back in Nov. 2025 (re-live that here). Now, the No. 6-ranked fighter at 170 pounds is hoping to get back into the Top 5 with a big win over Joaquin Buckley, who is currently ranked No. 9. “New Mansa” is coming off a loss to former division champion, Kamaru Usman, snapping his six-fight win streak.
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC 328 Fight Card:
UFC 328 Main Event on Paramount+:
185 lbs.: Middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland
UFC 328 Main Card on Paramount+ (9 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: UFC Flyweight champion Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira
265 lbs.: Alexander Volkov vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
170 lbs.: Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley
155 lbs.: King Green vs. Jeremy Stephens
UFC 328 ‘Prelims’ Card On Paramount+ (7 p.m. ET):
185 lbs.: Ateba Gautier vs. Osman Diaz
170 lbs.: Joel Alvarez vs. Yaroslav Amosov
155 lbs.: Grant Dawson vs. Mateusz Rebecki
155 lbs.: Jared Gordon vs. Jim Miller
UFC 328 ‘Prelims’ Card On Paramount+ (5 p.m. ET):
185 lbs.: Roman Kopylov vs. Marco Tulio
145 lbs.: William Gomis vs. Pat Sabatini
185 lbs.: Baisangur Susurkaev vs. Djorden Santos
125 lbs.: Clayton Carpenter vs. Jose Ochoa
