Sean Strickland vs Nassourdine Imavov next as Chimaev eyes 205

Sean Strickland retained his middleweight title in a split decision over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, but the two won't run it back. Chimaev walked out of the Octagon and told UFC CEO Dana White he's moving to heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight, per ESPN's Brett Okamoto, which clears the path for Nassourdine Imavov to challenge Strickland next.

The five-round war Saturday went back and forth with only two judges awarding Strickland the nod. Despite the narrow margin, Chimaev's immediate pivot to 205 pounds means Imavov gets the shot he was denied when Strickland jumped the line for this title fight. "Frankly, Strickland jumped the line to even get this title fight against Chimaev, but no one can complain about that now," Okamoto wrote.

Chimaev's heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight move sets up Costa clash

If Chimaev sticks to his word, the logical opponent at light heavyweight is Paulo Costa. The two were booked years ago before Costa's injury scrapped the matchup. Costa recently beat Azamat Murzakanov in his 205-pound debut in April, and the bad blood between him and Chimaev would make for an entertaining buildup.

The wildcard scenario has Chimaev staying at middleweight if he becomes obsessed with avenging the loss, though Okamoto called that a longshot given how quickly the fighter committed to moving up.

Elsewhere on the card, flyweight champion Joshua Van defended his belt against Tatsuro Taira with a dominant performance that stuffed late takedowns and overwhelmed on the feet. Van is pushing for a rematch with Alexandre Pantoja, who lost the title to Van in December due to an elbow injury. Pantoja is recovering and the rematch is the only fight that makes sense once he's cleared.

At welterweight, Sean Brady rebounded from his loss to Michael Morales with a win over Joaquin Buckley that puts him one fight away from a title shot. Carlos Prates is the logical next opponent, though the UFC may hesitate to risk Prates' momentum on a matchup with Brady. Van is expected to face Pantoja as soon as the former champion is fully healed.

Source: espn.com