Nassourdine Imavov fell short in his UFC Vegas 67 main event clash with Sean Strickland, and he’s spoken out following the loss.

Imavov and Strickland collided inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14. This one went the distance and in the end, Strickland had his hand raised via unanimous decision.

After the fight, Imavov took to his Twitter account to issue a statement, and he took his defeat gracefully.

https://twitter.com/imavov1/status/1614482253022908416

“Sorry everyone, I wanted to win so badly but he was better in this fight. Congratulations to Sean and his team. I will learn from this fight, and come back stronger as always. Thank you to everyone who gave us strength this week.”

Imavov was actually expecting to meet Kelvin Gastelum, who had to pull out of the fight due to an injury. Strickland stepped up as a last-minute replacement.

With the loss, Imavov now sees his three-fight winning streak snapped. He went into the bout with Strickland having scored victories over Joaquin Buckley, Edmen Shahbazyan, and Ian Heinisch. He’ll now have to go back to the drawing board as his pro MMA record falls to 12-4. This is Imavov’s second loss under the UFC banner.

Nassourdine Imavov was the number 12-ranked UFC middleweight going into the fight. He may remain at that spot, as Strickland holds the number 7 spot. The future will tell what lies ahead for Imavov, but as he approaches the age of 28 in March, time is on his side.