UFC opens 2023 with Strickland v Imavov clash

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will host its first event for 2023, as Sean Strickland and Nassourdine Imavov meet in the light heavyweight main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 15 January.

Originally slated to be a middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and Imavov, the main event was altered after Gastelum suffered a dental injury in sparring. Instead, Strickland is stepping in on just a few days’ notice.

“I’m extremely disappointed to say the least,” wrote Gastelum on social media, apologising for his forced withdrawal. “This not how I wanted to start 2023. I worked my a** off and battled through a lot of adversary [sic] and was ready to put on a hell of a show this weekend. I apologise to Imavov, his camp as well as [UFC] and all the fans.”

Strickland (25-5) was in action as recently as mid-December, suffering a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier. It was a second straight ‘L’ for ‘Tarzan’, who was also knocked out in the first round by current middleweight champion Alex Pereira when they met in July of 2022.

Nonetheless, the 31-year-old American is happy to dive straight in, even though he admits to knowing little about his opponent... other than his nationality.

“I don’t even know how to f***ing say that name, man,” Strickland said. “Let’s call him the Frenchie. And if we’ve learned anything about the French... what are the French best at? Giving up.

“So, I haven’t really watched him fight. I know he likes to bang. I know he likes to throw big punches, but he’s still f***ing French, man. There’s a lot of history of cowardice to move on from when you’re f***ing French.

“So maybe he’s going to prove a statement. Maybe he’s going to say that his country has left the cowardice behind, I don’t f***ing know. Only thing the French are good at is having affairs and giving up and losing fights. But we’ll f***ing find out. Maybe he’s different.”

Imavov (12-3) is on a three-fight winning run, having defeated Ian Heinisch, Edmen Shahbazyan and Joaquin Buckley in the past 18 months.

The 26-year-old Russian-born Frenchman is fired up to continue his hot streak: “I love having supporters, I love when it gets loud, I love when the camera is focused on me. It will definitely motivate me; it will be good for me. Maybe you noticed, I’m getting better after every fight, and my last fight was even better because there was a crowd and a lot of noise. So, this fight will be even better than that.”

The remainder of the main card features a featherweight fight between Dan Ige and Damon Jackson; a middleweight match pitting Punahele Soriano against Roman Kopylov; Ketlen Vieira v Raquel Pennington in the women’s bantamweight division; and a men’s bantamweight battle opener between Umar Nurmagomedov and Raoni Barcelos.

UFC Fight Night: Gastelum v Imavov – Main card

- Main event: Light heavyweight: Sean Strickland v Nassourdine Imavov

- Featherweight: Dan Ige v Damon Jackson

- Middleweight: Punahele Soriano v Roman Kopylov

- Women’s bantamweight: Ketlen Vieira v Raquel Pennington

- Bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov v Raoni Barcelos