Sean Strickland stepped up on short notice to take on Nassourdine Imavov in the first UFC card of 2023.
Strickland had also headlined the last UFC card of 2022, dropping a closely contested split decision against Jared Cannonier.
The recent bout was contested at light heavyweight after Kelvin Gastelum was forced to pull out of his scheduled middleweight clash against Imavov due to a nasty mouth injury.
Strickland went in at the light heavyweight limit of 205 lbs, while Imavov weighed around 10 pounds lighter.
Strickland used his weight advantage to pressure Imavov early on, stalking him behind a crisp jab.
Meanwhile, the Dagestani appeared to have lost his accuracy, missing big with slugging overhands in the initial rounds. While Imavov started answering with leg kicks as the fight went on, it was too little too late.
Strickland went on to earn a unanimous decision win, marking the end of a two-fight losing skid.
Watch some of the fight highlights below:
Dan Ige also took on Damon Jackson in the co-main event at UFC Vegas 67. Ige thoroughly outclassed ‘Action’ en route to a second-round walk-off knockout.
This also marked the end of a three-fight skid for ’50k’ who was admittedly depressed for a while.
Watch the KO below:
The main-card opener saw the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov score a dominant first-round KO win over Raoni Barcelos. Meanwhile, Russian middleweight Roman Kopylov scored a second-round TKO win over fellow prospect Punahele Soriano.
Barring the main-event, the only main-card fight to go the distance was Raquel Pennington’s spilt-decision win over Ketlen Vieira.
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov full card results
Main card
Sean Strickland def. Nassourdine Imavov via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Dan Ige def. Damon Jackson via KO (punch) (4:13 in Round 2)
Roman Kopylov def. Punahele Soriano via TKO (strikes) (3:19 in Round 2)
Raquel Pennington def. Ketlen Vieira via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Raoni Barcelos via KO (punches) (4:40 in Round 1)
Preliminary card
Javid Basharat def. Mateus Mendonca via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Claudio Ribeiro via KO (punches) (0:28 in Round 2)
Mateusz Rebecki def. Nick Fiore via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Allan Nascimento def. Carlos Hernandez via submission (rear-naked choke) (3:16 in Round 1)
Daniel Argueta def. Nick Aguirre via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Charles Johnson def. Jimmy Flick via TKO (punches) (4:33 in Round 1)