UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov

UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	January 14, 2023 (2023-01-14)
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Attendance	Not announced [1]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov UFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill

UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov (also known as UFC Fight Night 217, UFC on ESPN+ 75 and UFC Vegas 67) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 14, 2023, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

A middleweight bout between former interim UFC Middleweight Championship challenger and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner Kelvin Gastelum and Nassourdine Imavov was scheduled to headline the event. ^[4] The pair was previously scheduled to meet at UFC 273, but Imavov was forced to withdraw due to visa issues. ^[5] However, the week of the event, Gastelum withdrew due to a mouth injury and was replaced by Sean Strickland, with the bout taking place at light heavyweight. ^[6]

A heavyweight bout between Jailton Almeida and Shamil Abdurakhimov was originally announced for this date. However the UFC issued a correction a short time later announcing the fight was set for UFC 283 the following week. ^[7]

A flyweight bout between Jeff Molina and Jimmy Flick was expected to take place at the event. ^[8] However, Molina withdrew from the event due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Charles Johnson. ^[9] A few weeks later it was announced that Molina was under suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission as he has been linked to an investigation around the Nov. 5 fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. ^[10]

Welterweights Geoff Neal and Shavkat Rakhmonov were expected to meet at this event. ^[11] However on December 29, Neal pulled out due to undisclosed injury and the bout was rescheduled for UFC 285. ^{[12] [13]}

Omar Morales was expected to face Mateusz Rębecki in a lightweight bout. ^[14] However, Morales withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Nick Fiore. ^[15]

Isaac Dulgarian was expected to face Daniel Argueta in a featherweight bout. ^[16] However, Dulgarian withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Nick Aguirre. ^[17]

A Featherweight bout between Jarno Errens and David Onama was scheduled for this event. ^[18] Errens however sustained a shoulder injury in December and the bout was scrapped. ^[19]

A women's flyweight bout between Priscila Cachoeira and Sijara Eubanks was expected to take place at the event. ^[20] However, the day before the event, Eubanks was forced to withdraw due to weight management issues and the bout was scrapped. ^[21]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Light Heavyweight	Sean Strickland	def.	Nassourdine Imavov	Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 49–46, 48–47)	5	5:00
Featherweight	Dan Ige	def.	Damon Jackson	KO (punch)	2	4:13
Middleweight	Roman Kopylov	def.	Punahele Soriano	TKO (body kick and punches)	2	3:19
Women's Bantamweight	Raquel Pennington	def.	Ketlen Vieira	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Umar Nurmagomedov	def.	Raoni Barcelos	KO (body kick and punch)	1	4:40
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Bantamweight	Javid Basharat	def.	Mateus Mendonça	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Abdul Razak Alhassan	def.	Claudio Ribeiro	KO (punches)	2	0:28
Lightweight	Mateusz Rębecki	def.	Nick Fiore	Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Allan Nascimento	def.	Carlos Hernández	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	3:16
Featherweight	Daniel Argueta	def.	Nick Aguirre	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Charles Johnson	def.	Jimmy Flick	TKO (elbows and punches)	1	4:33

^[22]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. ^[23]

• Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
• Performance of the Night: Dan Ige, Roman Kopylov, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Allan Nascimento

See also

• Martial arts portal

• List of UFC events
• List of current UFC fighters
• 2023 in UFC

References

1. Mike Bohn (2023-01-15). "UFC Fight Night 217 post-event facts: Sean Strickland joins exclusive three-division club". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
2. Mike Bohn and Farah Hannoun (2022-09-28). "Kevin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov headlines first UFC event of 2023". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
3. Nolan King (2022-12-08). "UFC officially announces early 2023 schedule: Dates, locations, and venues". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
4. Damon Martin (2022-09-28). "Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov expected to headline first UFC card in 2023". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
5. Staff (2022-03-28). "UFC 273 news: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Kelvin Gastelum off, Ilir Latifi vs. Aleksei Oleinik added". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
6. Damon Martin (2023-01-09). "Kelvin Gastelum out, Sean Strickland now faces Nassourdine Imavov in UFC Vegas 67 main event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
7. Jay Anderson (2022-11-01). "Jailton Almeida Rebooked Opposite Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 283". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
8. Marcel Droff (2022-09-24). "UFC | Molina vs. Flick eerste gevecht voor 2023 op 14 januari". eurosport.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-29.(in Dutch)
9. Mike Heck and MMA Fighting Newswire (2022-12-05). "Charles Johnson in for Jeff Molina at UFC Vegas 67, faces Jimmy Flick". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
10. Staff (2022-12-26). "Report: UFC flyweight Jeff Molina the latest suspension amid betting scandal". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
11. Tristen Critchfield (2022-10-08). "Welterweights Geoff Neal, Shavkat Rakhmonov to clash at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 14". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
12. Will Miles (2022-12-29). "Geoff Neal out of scheduled bout against Shavkat Rakhmonov on the 14th of January, 2023". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
13. Mike Bohn (2023-01-04). "Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov rescheduled for UFC 285 in March". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
14. Bartłomiej Stachura (2022-11-03). "UFC debut confirmed! Mateusz Rębecki will cross gloves with a strong kickboxer!". lowking.pl. Retrieved 2022-11-03.(in Polish)
15. Bartłomiej Stachura (2022-12-29). "Omar Morales is out of the fight! Mateusz Rębecki with a new opponent for his UFC debut!". lowking.pl. Retrieved 2022-12-29.(in Polish)
16. Nolan King (2022-11-07). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Oct. 31-Nov. 6)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
17. Jay Anderson (2023-01-10). "Newcomer Nick Aguirre steps in against Dan Argueta at UFC Vegas 67 this Saturday". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
18. Marcel Dorff (2022-10-31). "UFC Vegas 67 | Jarno Errens vecht tijdens eerste UFC evenement van 2023 tegen David Onama". eurosport.nl. Retrieved 2022-10-31.(in Dutch)
19. "UFC VEGAS 67 | JARNO ERRENS NIET IN ACTIE OP 14 JANUARI VANWEGE EEN SCHOUDERBLESSURE". www.eurosport.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-01-12.
20. Guilherme Cruz (2022-12-23). "Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks agreed for first UFC card of 2023". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
21. Alexander K. Lee (2023-01-13). "Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks off of UFC Vegas 67 due to Eubanks weight management issues". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
22. "UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
23. Matt Erickson (2023-01-14). "UFC Fight Night 217 bonuses: Dan Ige's nickname prophetic for extra $50,000". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-01-14.