UFC Fight Night 217: Sean Strickland will replace injured Kelvin Gastelum in the main event vs Nassourdine Imavov

UFC Vegas 67: Strickland vs Imavov: On Monday, a significant modification was made to the first UFC event of 2023. Due to a mouth injury, Kelvin Gastelum will not compete in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 217 main event against Nassourdine Imavov in Las Vegas. According to UFC, Sean Strickland will take his spot in the main event against Nassourdine Imavov, which verified his withdrawal. The event will take place on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Follow UFC Fight Night 217: Strickland vs Imavov LIVE Streaming on InsideSport.IN

Also Read: UFC news round up: Conor McGregor teases 2023 return, Paddy Pimblett looks back at an incredible 2022, Islam Makhachev trolled by Dillon Danis, UFC 283 updates

UFC Fight Night 217: Strickland vs Imavov

On short notice, Sean Strickland volunteered to fight Imavov. The fight will still go five rounds but will now be held at light heavyweight, which is a higher weight class. After an initial report by ESPN, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed it to MMA Junkie on Monday. Minutes later, the UFC made the adjustment official.

UFC Fight Night 217: Sean Strickland will replace injured Kelvin Gastelum in the main event vs Nassourdine Imavov, Strickland vs Imavov, UFC News

Imavov (12-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a primary training partner of former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, has won three straight matches. The 25-year-old Dagestan-born fighter with a base in France defeated fellow prospect Edmen Shahbazyan in the second round at UFC 268 in November after stopping Heinisch in July. Imavov most recently defeated Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 209 in September.

UFC Fight Night 217: Sean Strickland will replace injured Kelvin Gastelum in the main event vs Nassourdine Imavov, Strickland vs Imavov, UFC News

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 216 in December, Strickland (25-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) lost by a razor-thin decision to Jared Cannonier. As a result of being knocked out by current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in July, he is currently on a two-fight losing skid. Strickland was on a six-fight winning streak before the two losses.

Also Read: VIDEO: “There is no evidence in the Top G arrest,” claims Andrew Tate lawyer

UFC Fight Night: Kelvin Gastelum withdraws

In response to the news, a disappointed Gastelum wrote a statement on Twitter in which he apologized to all parties involved.

I’m extremely disappointed to say the least. This not how I wanted to start 2023.
I worked my ass off & battled through a lot of adversary and was ready to put on a hell of a show this weekend.
I apologize to Imavov, his camp as well as @ufc and all the fans. #OnAmission4Gold

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) January 9, 2023

UFC Vegas 67: UFC Fight Night Full Card

Main Card

• Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov; Middleweight
• Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson; Featherweight
• Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov; Middleweight
• Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington; Bantamweight
• Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos; Bantamweight

Preliminary card

• Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Claudio Ribeiro; Middleweight
• Mateusz Rębecki vs. Nick Fiore; Lightweight
• Mateus Mendonça vs. Javid Basharat; Bantamweight
• Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez; Flyweight
• Daniel Argueta vs. Isaac Dulgarian; Featherweight
• Jimmy Flick vs. Charles Johnson; Flyweight
• Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks; Flyweight

Also Read:UFC: Conor McGregor pinpoints Bruce Buffer’s special treatment to him- ‘Excited to return’