Luke Rockhold has come out strongly against the scoring in Khamzat Chimaev’s split-decision loss to Sean Strickland in the UFC 328 main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Chimaev dropped his middleweight title to Strickland by split decision after all three judges had the fight even at two rounds apiece heading into Round 5. Rockhold disputes the final frame being awarded to Strickland on two of the three cards and maintains Chimaev should have left with the belt.
"I think Khamzat won. Khamzat won the fourth and fifth round. He controlled the pace of how that fight finished, and that's what champions do, and that's who deserves the championship," Rockhold said.
Breaking down the striking, Rockhold argued Strickland’s jab work wasn’t enough to swing the fight. "A jab is meant to change the course of what direction the fight is going," he said, adding, "Every jab he (Strickland) had was moving backwards. You've got to do damage and step him back. ... The only round that was clear for Sean is Round 2. Round 3 was close, could have gone either way. Round 4 was Khamzat all the way. He really pushed the pace; he hit him with some bigger shots. Sean was landing clean jabs, but they're usually off breaks and pepper jabs. It was setting up."
Rockhold also suggested the judging may have been swayed by Strickland’s betting line, saying, "Maybe that's why he won, because of the +400 or 500 odds," and, "The only thing that makes sense is that he was a +500 underdog. There's a little bit of sketchy things sometimes in who they want to win. Maybe they just wanted Sean to win because he's Sean. It could have been swayed."
Rockhold was part of Chimaev’s training camp and has stated multiple times that he is not a fan of Strickland.
