The long awaited UFC 328 took place on Saturday and it didn’t disappoint fans, delivering an exciting night of 13 fights. The main card boasted five total fights and capped off the night with a pair of ultra competitive title fights.
In the co-main event, UFC Flyweight Champion, Joshua Van, successfully defended his strap in a masterful boxing performance over challenger, Tatsuro Taira. In the main event, Sean Strickland edged out the UFC Middleweight Champion, Khamzat Chimaev to snatch back the belt. Only one non-ranked fighter on this edition of What’s Next, but a potential move up in weight for a couple of fighters.
Khamzat Chimaev
(#3) Sean Strickland surprised quite a few fans with his split decision victory of champion Khamzat Chimaev to win back the middleweight title at UFC 328 on Saturday. It was a hard fought bout for both men with Khamzat first looking nearly unstoppable, before his grappling started to fail him early/midway through the fight. This loss was the first of Khamzat’s career, though Kamaru Usman notably took Chimaev to a majority decision on short notice back in 2023. Chimaev is now 15-1 as a pro and 9-1 in the UFC since being signed in 2020.
205lbs.
Not sure if Khamzat will elect to move up to 205lbs or not with his 6’2″ frame and 75″ reach. But, according to UFC President Dana White in the UFC 328 post-fight press conference, Chimaev wants to give light heavyweight a go. If Khamzat indeed moves up, an excellent high profile, immediate test would be against (#6) Jamahal Hill. Jamahal is a 2019 Contender Series alum that has the seemingly unimpressive UFC record of 6-4 with 1 NC. He’s riding a -three-fight losing streak. But upon further inspection, he’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion that strung together a 4-fight win streak to take down Glover Teixeira for the belt in 2023. Hill has dropped three straight since then, losing to Alex Pereira, Jiri Porchazka and most recently Khalil Rountree Jr., last June. This fight would be a dangerous striking litmus test for Khamzat at 205lbs. Hill is 6’4″ with a 79″ reach. This fight could serve as part of a PPV card up to the co main event slot.
185lbs.
If Khamzat changes his mind and stays at 185lbs., the next matchup should be against (#5) Caio Borralho. Caio is 8-1 in the UFC and 1-1 in his last two. He lost to (#2) Nassourdine Imavov in September before bouncing back against Reinier de Ridder earlier this year. Timing would be a tad off but it could still make a lot of since and set up a title shot for either fighter.
Khamzat’s next fight: (#6) Jamahal Hill at 205lbs or (#5) Caio Borralho at 185lbs.
Tatsuro Taira
Flyweight champ Joshua Van brutalized (#3) Tatsuro Taira with his boxing at UFC 328 on Saturday eventually finishing the Japanese fighter after evading grappling exchanges and submissions. Taira showed massive amounts of grit in the bout and his tenacity eventually earned this scrap Fight of the Night honors. Even though Taira came in as a slight favorite, his stock doesn’t drop too horribly after a gutsy performance like that. Tatsuro is now 8-2 in the UFC since being signed in 2022. Taira is 2-2 in his last four bouts. But he’s earned fight of the night honors in both defeats. Tatsuro was riding a two-fight win streak heading into Saturday with second round stoppages over Hyun Sung Park and Brandon Moreno.
Taira’s next fight should be against the loser of Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi. That fight goes down on June 20 and is also in the main event slot. Timing wouldn’t be the best but it’d be worth waiting for either either fighter. Kape is currently 7-3 with the UFC and is riding a 3-fight win streak that saw him stop (#15) Bruno Silva, (#8) Asu Almabayev and most recently (#4) Brandon Royval.
Horiguchi is 9-1 with the UFC in total but is 2-0 since being signed back with the promotion in 2025. The former RIZIN flyweight champion has defeated (#14) Tagir Ulanbekov and (#7) Amir Albazi in his second stint with the promotion. Both fighters are ascending and with a victory could likely fight for the title. Since Taira just gave a good showing for the strap he’d be the obvious choice for the loser. This bout could even potentially be on the same card as the flyweight championship bout to line the winner up to take on the Flyweight Champ.
Tatsuro’s next fight: (#2) Manel Kape vs. (#5) Kyoji Horiguchi loser
Waldo Cortes-Acosta
(#2) Alexander Volkov turned in an excellent performance, despite a little chaos late, to capture a unanimous decision victory over (#4) Waldo Cortes-Acosta on Saturday night. The defeat cooled off the 2022 Contender Series Alum as it snapped a 3-fight win streak. Cortes-Acosta is now 10-3 with the UFC. His other losses are to Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Sergei Pavlovich. Heading into this fight he had stopped Ante Delija, Shamil Gaziev and most recently, Derrick Lewis.
Curtis Blaydes Matchup
For his next fight Waldo should take on Curtis Blaydes. Curtis was previously matched up with the winner of Shamil Gaziev vs. Brando Pericic winner on the UFC 327 losers article. Perhaps that matchup isn’t the best option seeing Brando end up getting the stoppage victory over Shamil along with the heavyweight ranking of #15. Giving Blaydes a fighter like Waldo seems more appropriate. And it seems like a good step for Waldo as well after a loss to top ranked Volkov. Blaydes is 2-3 in his last five. Those three losses came to (#3) Sergei Pavlovich, UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinal and most recently (#5) Josh Hokit. He’s beat Jailton Alemdia and (#8) Rizvan Kuniev in that stretch. This could be on the main card of a PPV and gives fans a striker vs. grappler matchup between two top-level heavyweights.
Josh Hokit Matchup
Good backup fight here, if everything falls into place for it, would be (#5) Josh Hokit. Josh is a 2025 Contender Series alum and is just 3-0 with the promotion. If he gets through Derrick Lewis on short turnaround he’d still need another legitimate win. Especially before unlocking a matchup with the upper echelon on the division. Cortes-Acosta could be that name. But only if it materializes right. That fight goes down on June 14.
Waldo’s next fight: (#7) Curtis Blaydes or (#5) Josh Hokit if he beats (#9) Derrick Lewis
Joaquin Buckley
(#6) Sean Brady used his grappling prowess on the main card of UFC 328 on Saturday to find the unanimous decision victory opposite of (#9) Joaquin Buckley. This loss marks just the second time Buckley has been on a losing streak in his 29-fight career (the other being 2022 when he lost to Naasourdine Imavov and then Chris Curtis). Stings for Buckley as before this 2-fight skid he was riding a 6-fight wins streak with included stoppages over former title challengers in Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington.
Gabriel Bonfim Matchup
For his next fight, Joaquin Buckley should take on Gabriel Bonfim if he loses to Belal Muhammad. That fight is scheduled for June 6th so the timing would be great. Bonfim is 6-1 with the promotion with his only loss coming to Nicolas Dalby in 2023. Since then, Bonfim has racked up four in a row including finishes against Khaos Williams and most recently, Randy Brown. Bonfim also has a win over Stephen Thompson in that stretch. It’d also offer fans a great standup matchup. If former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad loses, not sure the grappling aspect would be a good option for Buckley considering the outcome of UFC 328.
Yaroslav Amosov Matchup
Good backup option here would be Yaroslav Amosov. Yarolsav is a former Bellator Welterweight title Challenger a promotion where he went 8-1. Amosov is 2-0 with the UFC since his signing last year. Yaroslav has stopped Neil Magny and on the undercard of UFC 328 he took two rounds to submit Joel Alvarez with an arm triangle choke. Don’t sleep on this matchup. It could be a viable option for the promotion if they’d like to push Amosov at all. Could be a co main or a main of a fight night or a PPV opener/ feature prelim.
Joaquin’s next fight: (#10) Gabriel Bonfim if he loses to (#5) Belal Muhammad or (#14) Yaroslav Amosov
Jeremy Stephens
King Green looked as sharp as ever showing off his signature striking before electing to get the job done on the ground via a late first round submission victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 328. Jeremy’s 36th UFC showing went from bad to worse, first 4 lbs. heavy and then proceeded to get finished. Stephens also lost his UFC return last year in a unanimous decision to Mason Jones. Since that fight he suffered a stoppage opposite of Mike Perry during a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship bout.
Seemed like Stephens was ready to call it a career after his bout with Green as he removed his gloves. But if he gets another bout in with the UFC a perfect option would be a fighter like Jared Gordon. Jared also suffered a submission defeat on the UFC 328 card. Jim Miller took under a round to catch Jared in a guillotine to bring Gordon to 9-8 with the UFC. Gordon has lost three of his last four bouts. Losses in this stretch include Nasrat Haqparast, Rafa Garcia and now Jim Miller. Walking back a previous losers article matchup here, as an Alexander Hernandez bout just doesn’t make much sense here even though he also is coming off a loss to Rafa Garcia too. Gordon shares three common oppeonts with Stephens: King Green, Charles Olivera and Jim Miller. All losses- except Green vs. Gordon ending via NC
Jeremy’s next bout: Retirement or Jared Gordon
