The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will hold its first event of 2023 UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov this weekend in Las Vegas at the APEX for another Fight Night.
Of course, this year will include many more “stacked” fight cards than UFC Fight Night: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Kelvin Gastelum, but we can still expect a good time.
What could be Nassourdine Imavov’s ticket to a full belly is Kelvin Gastelum’s tragedy. After Gastelum sustained a mouth injury during training camp, the main event at UFC Fight Night on January 14 between Imavov and Gastelum was cancelled. As a replacement, Sean Strickland will keep the main event going.
According to ESPN, Strickland has accepted to face Imavov with few days to prepare after suffering a five-round split decision loss to Jared Cannonier on the final UFC night of 2022. Although both Strickland and Imavov had been rated in the UFC’s 185-pound division, their five-round main event will be contested at 205 pounds, most likely because Strickland was unable to make the middleweight cut in time.
In this article, we cover every important aspect of UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov.
What time does UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov take place?
- Date: Saturday, January 14, 2023
- Beginning of the main event at 7 p.m. ET/ 12 a.m. midnight GMT
- Time (approximate) of the main event cage walks: 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. GMT
With the main card beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 12 a.m. GMT and the main event cage walks beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. GMT, the fight night is prepared to begin. Due to the duration of the preliminary bouts, these schedules are subject to change.
How to watch UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Live
Live Broadcast: UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Live
Live Broadcast: UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Live
UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Where it is?
The UFC Apex in Las Vegas is the site of the bout.
UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Preview
The newest UFC Fight Night takes place in Las Vegas, and the main event is a middleweight fight.
UFC IN 2023 kicks up with Strickland vs. Imavov, and Las Vegas APEX is ready for another UFC fight night. The middleweight bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Nassourdine Imavov, which was initially planned for the show, will now take place in the lightweight division. Due to an injury, however, Gastelum was taken off the card, and in his place, lightweight contender Sean Strickland was brought in to face off against Imavov. This weekend marks the date of the showdown.
The main event of UFC Fight Night: Apex is the middleweight bout between Nassourdine Imavov and Kelvin Gastelum.
Imavov, a French MMA fighter, won his 12th UFC bout against Joaquin Buckley in September 2022.
Since losing to Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision over a year and a half ago, Gastelum has not competed.
Title battle: Strickland vs. Imavov
Among Sean Strickland’s 25 victories, 5 defeats, and 0 draws, 10 have been through knockout and 4 via submission.
Nassourdine Imavov has a record of 12 wins, 3 losses, and 0 draws in MMA. Five of his victories have come through knockout, while four have come via submission.
With a 42% knockout percentage compared to Strickland’s 40%, the numbers favour Imavov when it comes to power.
Currently, the odds are 18/5 for Strickland to win through knockout (+360), while 4/1 for Imavov (+400) exists.
At 31, Sean Strickland is five years older than his younger counterpart.
The difference between Imavov and Strickland in height is 2 inches. Even yet, both combatants have comparable ranges.
Strickland has greater professional fighting experience than Imavov, with 15 more bouts under his belt. He also made his debut 7 years and 10 months earlier, in 2008, than Imavov did, in 2016. Compared to Imavov, he has fought 45 more rounds in the ring.
UFC Fight Night Gastelum vs Imavov Fight card
Main cards
- Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum vs Nassourdine Imavov;
- Bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos;
- Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson; Featherweight
- Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov; Middleweight
- Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington; Bantamweight
Preliminary card
- Claudio Ribeiro vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan;
- Mateusz Robecki vs. Nick Fiore;
- Mateus Mendonça vs. Javid Basharat;
- Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez;
- Daniel Argueta vs. Isaac Dulgarian;
- Jimmy Flick vs. Charles Johnson;
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks;
