UFC 328 weigh-in results: Miller hits mark for 47th time; Stephens misses

Less than 24 hours after insults were hurled and kicks were thrown at the conclusion of a pre-fight press conference, Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland stepped on the scale on the eve of their anticipated middleweight championship grudge match.

The UFC 328 headliners bookended the official weigh-in Friday morning in New Jersey, with Strickland the first fighter to weigh in and Chimaev the final athlete to register his weight.

They each had to weigh no more than 185 pounds for their title fight to be made official.

Strickland, who moved up from welterweight to middleweight in 2020 following a lengthy layoff due to a serious motorcycle accident, was an even 185 pounds. The 35-year-old from California is looking to become a two-time middleweight champion. He upset Israel Adesanya in 2023 as a massive underdog and is in a similar spot ahead of his fight with the undefeated Chimaev, who’s roughly a six-to-one betting favourite.

Chimaev also hit championship weight with less than 20 minutes remaining in the weigh-in window. The 32-year-old improved to 9-0 in the UFC when he won a five-round decision over Dricus Du Plessis to win the title last August.

Chimaev also began his UFC career competing in the 170-pound division, but has gone 3-0 since permanently moving up in weight with consecutive wins over past champions Kamaru Usman, Robert Whittaker and Du Plessis.

“I would beat him up every day,” Chimaev said of some past training sessions with Strickland at Thursday’s press conference. “I’ve submitted him many times. He knows about it. The guys (in the gym) know about it. He’s not happy, that’s why he’s stressed. … He’s never going to beat me.”

UFC president Dana White said the feud between Chimaev and Strickland ranks “top three all-time” in UFC history, in his opinion.

Co-main event stars Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira needed to weigh no more than 125 pounds for their men’s flyweight title matchup to be made official, and both made championship weight. Van won the title in December and is looking to make his first defence.

All fighters competing in non-title matchups were given a one-pound allowance.

If there were a Hall of Fame for professionalism and longevity in sports, Jim Miller would be inducted on the first ballot.

Miller, 42, is the UFC’s all-time leader in total wins and appearances, and he successfully made weight for the 47th consecutive time in his UFC career. Miller was an even 155 pounds ahead of his lightweight bout with Jared Gordon, who took advantage of the extra pound allowance and weighed 156.

All but one of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at Prudential Center successfully made weight.

Jeremy Stephens was over the non-title lightweight limit by four pounds, stepping on the scale at 160 pounds ahead of his scheduled contest with fellow veteran Bobby “King” Green, who was 155 on the dot.

This is the third time in Stephens’ 36-fight UFC career he has missed weight. Stephens, 39, returned to the UFC one year ago after four years competing in different organizations and formats, including bare-knuckle boxing. Stephens is winless in his past seven UFC appearances dating back to 2018.

Stephens has accepted a 30 per cent fine, and the bout will proceed at a catchweight.

Below are the official weigh-in results for UFC 328:

— Khamzat Chimaev (185) vs. Sean Strickland (185)

— Joshua Van (125) vs. Tatsuro Taira (125)

— Alexander Volkov (257) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (264)

— Sean Brady (170) vs. Joaquin Buckley (170)

— Bobby “King” Green (155) vs. Jeremy Stephens (160)*

— Ateba Gautier (185) vs. Osman Diaz (186)

— Grant Dawson (156) vs. Mateusz Rebecki (156)

— Joel Alvarez (170) vs. Yaroslav Amosov (170)

— Jim Miller (155) vs. Jared Gordon (156)

— Roman Kopylov (185) vs. Marco Tulio (186)

— Pat Sabatini (145) vs. William Gomis (145)

— Baisangur Susurkaev (186) vs. Djorden Santos (186)

— Clayton Carpenter (126) vs. Jose Ochoa (125)

*Fighter missed weight, fined 30 per cent of purse, bout proceeds