UFC TONIGHT: Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 328: Chimaev vs Strickland

Van capped off an incredible 2025 campaign by winning the title from Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 323 last December when the Brazilian suffered an arm injury while bracing to hit the ground while being “tree-topped” by Van. The 24-year-old from Myanmar has won six straight and nine of 10 since arriving in the UFC not even three years ago and has the skills and upside to potentially be a long-reigning champion in this division.

WATCH: Hear From Van And Taira At The UFC 328 Press Conference

Just before Van defeated Pantoja last December, Taira stopped two-time champ Brandon Moreno to close out a dominant performance of his own. The 26-year-old has similarly lost only once inside the Octagon — a split decision to Brandon Royval in a wildly entertaining five-round fight —and has earned finishes in six of his eight UFC wins.

While this profiles as a “striker versus grappler” battle, both men are more well-rounded than those designations suggest, which makes this one feel like more of a battle of wills and endurance than anything else. As simple as it often sounds, whoever is able to dictate the terms of engagement will hold the upper hand, but that resets after every round, so the key will be seeing how each respond if they drop a round or two early in the fight.

Additional Main Card Matchups

Alexander Volkov vs Waldo Cortes Acosta

Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes Acosta meet in a battle of heavyweights, looking to cement their place at the top of the list of active contenders as things in the division start to really get moving for the first time this year.

WATCH: Josh Hokit Takes Aim At Alex Pereira And Ilia Topuria At UFC Freedom 250 Presser

Volkov has been involved in back-to-back debated fights that ended in split decisions, the first a loss to Ciryl Gane in a fight many believed he won, and the second, which he won, last October against Jailton Almeida, where neither man mustered much offense. Prior to those two contests, the Russian veteran was rolling, posting four straight victories while showing an increased aggressiveness in wins over Jairzinho Rosenstruik, Alexandr Romanov, Tai Tuivasa, and Sergei Pavlovich.

Cortes Acosta makes his second appearance of 2026 here, staying true to his desire to remain active. After posting a 4-1 record with a pair of November knockouts last year, “Salsa Boy” started this year with a second-round stoppage win over Derrick Lewis to move to 10-2 inside the Octagon and 17-2 overall.

With the interim title on the line next month at UFC Freedom 250 and Tom Aspinall’s return date still uncertain, these two are looking to lock up pole position for a championship opportunity in the future before the other two members of the Top 5 — Pavlovich and Josh Hokit —return to action. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but an emphatic showing from either side would certainly bolster their case for contention.

Sean Brady vs Joaquin Buckley

Welterweights hoping to do the same as Volkov and Cortes Acosta hit the Octagon ahead of them as Sean Brady faces off with Joaquin Buckley in a pivotal main card matchup.

Brady turned in a brilliant performance last March, jumping into a short-notice assignment opposite Leon Edwards and dominating the former champion for three rounds before submitting him in the fourth. Unfortunately, the Marquez MMA man faltered in November against Michael Morales, halting his three-fight winning streak and leaving him outside of the Top 5 for the time being.

Gautier faced his first patch of adversity earlier this year, struggling through a three-round grind against Andrey Pulyaev at UFC 324, marking the first time since his professional debut that he won by decision. Diaz scored a unanimous decision win over Djorden Santos in his return to middleweight last March and is the kind of experienced, tested veteran that could give Gautier trouble here.

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Joel Alvarez vs Yaroslav Amosov

Joel Alvarez and Yaroslav Amosov meet in this fascinating pairing of welterweight sophomores looking to move closer to the Top 15.

After years as a gigantic lightweight, Alvarez moved to the 170-pound ranks last year, earning a decision win over Vicente Luque, who became the first to survive to the scorecards while losing to the Spaniard. A former Bellator champion, Amosov rolled into the UFC on the final card of 2025, where he submitted Neil Magny in the opening round to announce his presence as a dark horse in the division. 

Grant Dawson vs Mateusz Rebecki

Grant Dawson and Mateusz Rebecki have previously shared the mats at American Top Team, but this weekend, they share the Octagon in Newark.

Kopylov has been one of the more active members of the 185-pound ranks over the last three years, amassing a 5-3 record with wins over Punahele Soriano, Cesar Almeida, and Chris Curtis. Tulio began his rookie year in the UFC with stoppage wins over Ihor Potieria and Tresean Gore, but faltered in November, landing on the wrong side of a similar result against Christian Leroy Duncan.

Pat Sabatini vs William Gomis

Veteran grinder Pat Sabatini looks to add to his winning streak, while William Gomis ventures across the pond in search of the biggest win of his career.

Susurkaev made a four-day turnaround after earning his contract to collect his first win, then followed it up with a third-round knockout of Eric McConico in November. Santos dropped his promotional debut to the previously discussed Ozzy Diaz, but bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Danny Barlow last October in Vancouver.

Clayton Carpenter vs Jose Ochoa

Flyweights kick off the show at UFC 328 as Clayton Carpenter takes on Jose Ochoa.

The MMA Lab product Carpenter has posted results in pairs through his first four UFC appearances, winning his first two bouts by submission before dropping his last two outings against Tagir Ulanbekov and Jafel Filho. Ochoa debuted with a loss to Lone’er Kavanagh, then rebounded with a knockout win over Cody Durden before taking a short-notice assignment against Top 10 talent Asu Almabayev last July and landing on the wrong side of the scorecards, falling to 8-2 overall in the process.