A matchup fans have been clamoring for since the moment he won the belt pits current middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev vs former champion Sean Strickland in UFC 328’s main event. A picture of total dominance since entering the promotion in 2020, the undefeated Chimaev will look to make Strickland his fourth win over a champion or former champion after defeating Kamaru Usman, Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis in succession. Strickland arrives in Newark hot off a dominant victory over rising star Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston, where he looked even better than the Strickland who beat Israel Adesanya for the title back in 2023.
An explosive heavyweight match that could go a long way in determining a future title challenger sees perennial top-ranked veteran Alexander Volkov vs streaking rising star Waldo Cortes-Acosta. A winner of five of his last six bouts, “Drago” Volkov is chasing a rematch with champion Tom Aspinall, and a win in Newark would certainly move him closer. He’ll have to turn back a freight train in Cortes-Acosta, who logged an incredible five fights in 2025 alone, and was last seen getting the TKO over Derrick Lewis last January. A winner of eight of his last nine, he’s clearly a man on a mission.
Jan Blachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov 2
Legendary Polish Power will go toe-to-toe with Hitman for a second time as the two light heavyweights look for a conclusive outcome to their majority draw at UFC 323 last year. Former champion Jan Blachowicz remains a testament to how fighters can thrive past the 40, while rising talent Guskov had rattled off four straight wins before drawing with Blachowicz.
A true gem for the Old Heads in attendance, veterans King Green and Jeremy Stephens are set to throw hands in Newark. Green made his Strikeforce debut back in 2011, while ‘Lil Heathen’ stepped into his first UFC bout back in 2007. Both men are 39 years old and have more than 100 combined fights between them, and their like-minded, thrill-seeking styles will almost certainly keep them in Fight of the Night contention.
