Sean Strickland breaks UFC record, overtakes Michael Bisping at UFC 328

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Sean Strickland now holds the record for the most strikes landed in UFC middleweight history.

He became a two-time 185-pound champion after beating Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 328 card at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was another upset win for Strickland, who also claimed his first title by upsetting Dricus du Plessis in January at UFC 297. Before that, he had lost to Du Plessis at UFC 303 last summer.

Strickland’s career resurgence has been impressive. At one point he lost three of four fights from 2022-2023, but since then he’s gone on an unbeaten run with six wins and a draw against Paulo Costa at UFC 302 earlier this year.

Sean Strickland breaks UFC middleweight striking record after five rounds against Khamzat Chimaev

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

The key to Strickland’s victory in Newark was managing to avoid the fate that befell his two-time rival, Dricus du Plessis, back in August 2023.

Chimaev had previously overwhelmed Du Plessis in Chicago, amassing over 20 minutes of control time to claim the middleweight title.

While he did face some early trouble on the ground, Strickland eventually found a way to keep much of the fight standing, where he’s most effective. That approach paid off in a big way.

Not only did he regain the title, but he also set a new striking record for the division. Going into UFC 328, Strickland already had an impressive tally with 1,726 strikes landed across his career. By the end of his bout with Chimaev, that number jumped by 73 more.

This pushed him past Chris Leben and into first place on the all-time list for total strikes landed in UFC middleweight history.