Kelvin Gastelum replaced by Sean Strickland in UFC main event against Nassourdine Imavov

A mouth injury has ruled out Gastelum, as Strickland returns to the ring just one month after his last fight

Kelvin Gastelum will be replaced by Sean Strickland in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event with Nassourdine Imavov, it has been confirmed.

Gastelum was due to compete for the first time since August 2021, but a mouth injury has forced him out of this weekend’s middleweight main event on short notice, with Strickland stepping in – just one month after he last fought. The new main event will take place at light-heavyweight.

“I’m extremely disappointed to say the least,” Gastelum tweeted on Monday (9 January). “This not how I wanted to start 2023.

“I worked my a** 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. #OnAMissionForGold.”

Gastelum’s last outing ended as a decision defeat by Jared Cannonier, who also outpointed Strickland in December. While 31-year-old Gastelum, who has lost five of his last six fights, must wait to resume his bid to return to the top of the division, Strickland will look to quickly put his recent loss behind him.

American Gastelum, now ranked 13th at 185lbs, challenged for the interim UFC middleweight title in 2019, but his points loss to Israel Adesanya marked the start of his current run of poor form.

Sean Strickland last fought just one month ago, losing to Jared Cannonier on points (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, compatriot Strickland won six straight bouts between 2018 and 2022, but he enters the UFC Apex institute in Las Vegas this weekend on the back of two straight defeats. Prior to his loss to Cannonier, Strickland was knocked out by Alex Pereira, who won the middleweight title against Adesanya in his next contest.

Imavov, meanwhile, is on a three-fight win streak as he prepares to face his highest-ranked opponent yet; the Frenchman sits 12th in the division, while Strickland is ranked seventh.