Brett OkamotoCloseBrett OkamotoESPN Staff WriterBrett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.Follow on X and Andreas HaleCloseAndreas HaleESPNAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on XMultiple AuthorsMay 10, 2026, 02:43 AM ET
Sean Strickland stuns Khamzat Chimaev, becomes new champ (2:21)Sean Strickland stuns Khamzat Chimaev, becomes new champ (2:21)
Will Chimaev’s first career loss energize or bore him further?
The two men who left Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with championship belts on Saturday earned them in different but equally hard-fought ways. Joshua Van let anyone who questioned his championship mettle heading into UFC 328 know that he is the real men’s flyweight champion. His opponent in his first title defense, Tatsuro Taira, gave Van all the pressure he could handle, but Van stayed composed and stopped Taira in the fifth round.
In the main event, Sean Strickland showed the world that the previously undefeated Khamzat Chimaev could be beaten. Strickland had answers for all of Chimaev’s tests on the way to a split decision victory. Now, Chimaev could respond in one of two ways: He could be motivated to come back better or move on to something else.
UFC CEO Dana White revealed at the UFC 328 postfight news conference that Chimaev told him he wants to move to light heavyweight. That’s fine and it’s exciting, but it’s also potentially worrisome that Chimaev, who has also fought at welterweight, now wants to move up after he just lost to a middleweight on Saturday. Is light heavyweight really a better weight for him, when he’s not finishing opponents on the feet like he used to or (in the case of Strickland) holding them down as effectively?
Chimaev has accomplished what he set out to accomplish. He says he doesn’t need anything else. But he wants to keep making money. Sometimes money can be a great motivator for a prizefighter, but we’ve also seen examples of those kinds of comments precluding a drop in performance. Chimaev just suffered the first loss of his career. That is no reason to panic, but in his next performance, every detail will be worth paying very close attention to. — Okamoto
It was unfortunate how Van won the flyweight title last December. Through no fault of his own, Pantoja’s arm injury in the opening minute of the fight had some questioning whether Van was the “real” flyweight champion.
For someone who has only trained in MMA for five years, Van has proven to be a prodigy. While his striking was never in question, Van’s quickly picked up takedown defense and the ability to get to his feet when brought to the canvas. His technique is sound, and it’s often overlooked that he’s only 24 and learning on the job.
That’s what makes Van both special and extremely dangerous. His ability is far from peaking, but he is already good enough to be a world champion. His progression since being knocked out by Charles Johnson in July 2024 to now has been astonishing and is reminiscent of a snake shedding its skin to reveal a new version in each fight. There are new wrinkles to his game demonstrated every time he steps into the Octagon, which makes preparing for him quite the challenge.
Alexandre Pantoja will likely be next to try to reclaim his title. But he shouldn’t anticipate the Van he prepared for previously. And he probably shouldn’t use what he saw against Taira as a barometer for what to expect in the rematch. Van has made the flyweight division even more fun to watch than before with his performances, and it’s really hard to believe there was a time when the company considered shuttering the division.
Simply put, Van is the real deal, and there’s no question who the real champion of the division currently is. — Hale
Let me be clear on something: Chimaev showed a lot of heart against Strickland. He dug deep to continue moving forward when the situation called for it, and there are plenty of observers who felt that effort should have won him the fight. In no way am I suggesting Chimaev is on his way out. But he struggled with the weight cut this week, and his endurance cratered early in the fight, despite a dominant first round. Take all that — coupled with his insistence that he doesn’t need to do this anymore — and there is at the least a cause for curiosity.
Well, those questions were answered with Van’s first title defense against Tatsuro Taira. The champion showed resilience, resolve and exceptional striking to eventually pound out an impressive fifth-round stoppage. Since arriving in the UFC, Taira had been touted as a grappling dynamo with excellent submissions. And the fight played out in Taira’s favor in the opening round, when he dragged the champion to the canvas less than a minute into the fight. Van showed a steel resolve that refused to allow him to stay on the ground, and he eventually wore down Taira by repeatedly getting to his feet and blasting the challenger with combinations.
Sean Strickland stuns Khamzat Chimaev, becomes new champ (2:21)Sean Strickland stuns Khamzat Chimaev, becomes new champ (2:21)
Brett OkamotoCloseBrett OkamotoESPN Staff WriterBrett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.Follow on X and Andreas HaleCloseAndreas HaleESPNAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on XMultiple Authors
CloseBrett OkamotoESPN Staff WriterBrett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.Follow on X
CloseAndreas HaleESPNAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on X
Brett Okamoto and Andreas Hale explore those topics now that UFC 328 is in the books.
Sean Strickland stuns Khamzat Chimaev, becomes new champ (2:21)