Sean Strickland will be headlining back-to-back UFC events.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Strickland is set to replace the injured Kelvin Gastelum against Nassourdine Imavov and will headline UFC Vegas 67. With Strickland taking the fight on short notice, the scrap will be held at light heavyweight, according to the report.
First UFC main event of 2023 has underwent a last minute change. Gastelum out with a mouth injury, Sean Strickland has agreed to replace him against Imavov. Five rounds, but now 205 pounds per UFC officials. This is now back to back UFC events headlined by Strickland. pic.twitter.com/ivg7VXl0qT
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 9, 2023
“First UFC main event of 2023 has undergone a last-minute change. Gastelum out with a mouth injury, Sean Strickland has agreed to replace him against Imavov. Five rounds, but now 205 pounds per UFC officials. This is now back-to-back UFC events headlined by Strickland.”
Sean Strickland (25-5) is coming off a decision loss to Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Vegas 66 on December 17. Prior to that, he suffered a first-round KO los to Alex Pereira at UFC 276 in a title eliminator bout.
Before the back-to-back setbacks, Strickland was on a six-fight winning streak with notable wins over Jack Hermansson, Uriah Hall, and Brendan Allen among others. Strickland is currently ranked seventh at middleweight.
Nassourdine Imavov (12-3) has now been booked against Gastelum twice as the two were supposed to fight at UFC 273 in April, but visa issues forced the scrap to be canceled. Imavov is currently 4-1 in the UFC and is on a three-fight winning streak and is coming off a decision over Joaquin Buckley. His other three UFC wins have come against Edmen Shahbazyan, Ian Heinisch, and Jordan Williams. His lone UFC loss was a controversial majority decision to Phil Hawes.
With Strickland vs. Imavov now the main event, UFC Vegas 67 is now as follows:
- Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavovv
- Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson
- Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
- Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Claudio Ribeiro
- Mateusz Rebecki vs. Nick Fiore
- Mateus Mendonca vs. Javid Basharat
- Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez
- Daniel Argueta vs. Isaac Dulgarian
- Jimmy Flick vs. Charles Johnson
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks
Who do you think will win, Sean Strickland or Nassourdine Imavov?