Dana White: Khamzat Chimaev changing weight classes after Sean Strickland stunner at UFC 328

Khamzat Chimaev experienced his first career loss on Saturday at UFC 328, dropping his middleweight title in stunning fashion against Sean Strickland. Afterward, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Chimaev might be done in the 185-pound division.

Chimaev, a former welterweight, seemingly had one of the roughest weight cuts of the week at Friday’s official weigh-ins. The now-former champion still made the 185-pound championship mark, but appeared to be struggling on the scale. “Borz” essentially confirmed those suspicions when speaking to White in the Octagon directly after his UFC 328 loss, telling the boss that he hopes to fight at light heavyweight in his next bout.

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"He literally walked up to me after the fight and said, 'I want to move up.' ... That was it. He said, 'I don't want to fight at this weight again. I want to move up,’" White said at UFC 328’s post-fight press conference.

"Him moving up is exciting. ... Ever since Fight Island, he's gone on a run, he's undefeated, won the world title. Did everything he said he would do. But with the level of success and lifestyle, it makes it tough. He was the f***ing champion. When you see somebody for the first time and you're like, 'Wow, this guy's special,' and they become a world champion in the UFC, yeah, I would say [he has potential to do it again], 100%."

Khamzat Chimaev may have fought his last middleweight fight.Chris Unger via Getty Images

Chimaev, 32, put up a valiant effort despite falling short via split decision. In Round 1, it was a typical Chimaev domination, with his wrestling overwhelming Strickland. Down the stretch he revisited that approach, but otherwise he stood and traded strikes with his one-time training partner for most of their 25-minute bout.

The closely contested affair came down to the wire. Similar to all three caegside judges, White said his scorecard had the fight all tied up going into the final round.

"I had it 2-2 going into the last round," White said. "I thought Strickland won the last round. What was interesting is the first two times I saw [Chimaev] fight on Fight Island, he used to talk about his stand-up and his team all the time. I was saying we hadn't seen him stand up and really go toe-to-toe with somebody in a while. But I think he had a rough weight cut.

"He's a tough guy. He's a f***ing savage. So, I would expect him not to roll over and quit."

With the win, Strickland is only the second two-time champion in the history of the UFC middleweight division.

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