UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall shared his prediction for the UFC middleweight title bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.
Saturday’s main event at UFC 328 is going to be a good one as Chimaev and Strickland finally get to settle their bad blood that is years in the making. It has been an interesting week in Newark, New Jersey, as Thursday’s pre-fight press conference saw the two rivals nearly come to blows. After both men successfully made weight at Friday’s official weigh-ins, the UFC 328 main event is set.
Tom Aspinall Predicts Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland
Speaking on his YouTube channel, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall broke down the fights taking place at UFC 328, and he shared his prediction for Saturday night’s big main event between Chimaev and Strickland.
Aspinall, who has trained with Strickland before, shared his personal first-hand knowledge of training with the middleweight title challenger, who he believes has an underrated get-up game. But, in the end, Aspinall admitted Chimaev’s vaunted wrestling skills will likely be the difference in the bout, and the champion is his slight lean to defend the belt on Saturday night.
“I think this is gonna be a good fight, first off. Khamzat, to me, looks pretty unstoppable at the moment with his takedowns and stuff. He’s really dangerous with the striking as well. I think Sean Strickland probably has a little bit of an edge in the striking department, but with Khamzat’s grappling I don’t know if Sean Strickland will be able to get off the bottom enough times,” Aspinall said (via BJPenn.com).
“That being said, I know Sean’s coach, I’ve also trained with Sean a little bit as well. Only a tiny bit though. I know a lot of people who are close to him and everyone keeps saying how good he is at getting up off the bottom. So, I think it’s going to be really interesting.
“I think there’s definitely a chance for Strickland, but in my opinion, I’m leaning a little bit towards Khamzat.”
Betting Odds Agree with Tom Aspinall
The latest betting odds heading into the UFC 328 main event have Chimaev listed as a -550 betting favorite, with Strickland as a +400 underdog. That means Chimaev has roughly an 85% probability of getting his hand raised, which shows you how strong the betting public feels about his chances of retaining his title.
That being said, Strickland is no stranger to being the underdog. When he beat Israel Adesanya in 2023 to win the UFC middleweight title, Strickland was a +500 underdog. Even in his last fight, when Strickland beat top contender Anthony Hernandez to earn a title shot, he was a +200 underdog. So Strickland has been here before, and he’s come through in similar spots.
But Chimaev is a different beast, and on Saturday night, most fans and analysts expect the Russian to show that there are levels to this game as his grappling is likely going to be too strong for Strickland to contend with. But Strickland can make things interesting, especially if he can keep this fight standing, which makes this an intriguing fight on top of it being a grudge match to settle their bad blood for good.
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