LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — UFC is kicking off 2023 with its first fight night of the year. The fight card features lots of up and comers, a few familiar names and an unexpected main event, but what's guaranteed is a whole lot of action.
The main event originally featured No 12. ranked Nassourdine Imavov against Kelvin Gastelum, but after Gastelum suffered a mouth injury, No. 7 ranked Sean Strickland came in as a few days notice replacement.
The fight will be fought at Light-Heavyweight.
For those that don't know, Stickland, to say the least, is a character.
"Let's just call him the frenchie....the frenchie" Strickland said. "If we've learned anything about the french, what are the french best at....giving up. So I mean, I've never really watched him fight, I know he likes to bang, he throws big punches, but you know he's still f****** french man. That's a hard thing to move past. There's a lot of history of cowardice to move on from."
For his part, the frenchman, Imavov, says he looks forward to fighting Strickland.
The other fights on the main card also feature ranked fighters.
Dan Ige is set to fight Damon Jackson in the co-main event. Ige has been on a three fight losing streak, but says he's been working hard on the mental aspect of fighting.
"I'm a superhero two or three times a year when I step in the ring but outside of the ring I'm just a human like everyone else, aside from that even it's just getting back to belief in myself, in my training and what I do," Ige said.
A top-5 Women's fight is also set with No. 2 Ketlen Vieira going against No. 5 Raquel Pennington.
Pennington says this is a fight she is excited about.
"Great opponent, great opportunity, and that's exactly what I'm seeing this as," Pennington said. "She's just another stepping stone in my way back to that world title shot."
The prelims for this weekend's fight night are set for 1pm, the main card starts at 4pm on ESPN Plus.
