Kelvin Gastelum, Sean Strickland In Vs. Nassourdine Imavov For UFC Vegas 67

After withdrawing from UFC Vegas 67, middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum has issued a statement.

Since losing to Jared Cannonier by decision in August 2021, the former UFC championship contender has not competed. It dropped him to 1-5 in his previous six games.

In that time, he had previously lost to opponents with names like Robert Whittaker and Darren Till.

This Saturday’s main event at UFC Vegas 67 was supposed to feature the Ultimate Fighter 17 tournament winner vs. Nassourdine Imavov. The opponent, “Russian Sniper,” came into the bout on a three-fight winning streak.

Imavov was anticipated to make his main-event debut in the contest.

ESPN MMA reported that the planned UFC Vegas 67 main event has been abandoned. Gastelum was forced to leave the match due to an undisclosed injury, and there was no stated timeline for his rehabilitation.

Gastelum made his first remark after leaving the fight on Twitter. The former UFC championship contender apologized there to his opponent, the company and the audience for cancelling the fight.

“I’m extremely disappointed to say the least. This not how I wanted to start 2023. I worked my ass 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. #OnAmission4Gold”

Sean Strickland will fight Imavov in the main event of UFC Vegas 67 as a result of Gastelum’s withdrawal. ‘Tarzan’ has lost his last two matches after most recently falling to Jared Cannonier in December.

Alex Pereira earlier knocked him out in July, ending Strickland’s six-fight winning streak.