Nassourdine Imavov meets short-notice replacement Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The fights at the UFC Apex are on ESPN+, with the 7 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 4 p.m.
Both fighters typically compete at middleweight — Strickland is No. 9 in the ESPN rankings — but this fight will be at light heavyweight because Strickland was brought in just this week, after Imavov’s original opponent, Kelvin Gastelum, pulled out on Monday with an injury.
Strickland (25-5) fought just three weeks ago at the final UFC event of 2022, dropping a split decision against Jared Cannonier for his second straight loss. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he will be the first fighter to be in the main event of consecutive UFC cards since Tito Ortiz in 2004 and 2005.
Imavov (12-3) has won three fights in a row, most recently a unanimous decision win against Joaquin Buckley in September.
How to watch the fights
Watch on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
There’s also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
UFC Fight Night card
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Light heavyweight: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Sean Strickland
Men’s featherweight: Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson
Middleweight: Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
Women’s bantamweight: Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington
Men’s bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos
ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET
Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Claudio Ribeiro
Lightweight: Mateusz Rebecki vs. Nick Fiore
Men’s bantamweight: Javid Basharat vs. Mateus Mendonca
Men’s flyweight: Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez
Men’s featherweight: Dan Argueta vs. Nick Aguirre
Men’s flyweight: Jimmy Flick vs. Charles Johnson
Women’s flyweight: Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks
Ian Parker’s betting tip
Strickland is coming off a close decision loss to Jared Cannonier, and to get back in the win column, he has to push the pace and move forward with his strikes. If he continues to sit on his back foot and jab while backing up, he will lose another decision. For Imavov, this is an opportunity for a step up in competition and get a big-name win on his résumé. Imavov has been training for a five-round main event against Gastelum, who is a technical striker with good wrestling and good cardio. I believe that Imavov’s striking is as good as, if not better than, Strickland’s, and he will be able to take advantage of Strickland’s lack of aggression and forward-moving pace.
For Parker’s suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday’s card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by MMA coach and analyst Din Thomas and ESPN’s other betting expert, Reed Kuhn.
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UFC Fight Night: Expert picks and best bets for Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Kelvin Gastelum out of UFC main event; Sean Strickland in