UFC Vegas 67 Odds: Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov Prediction

Saturday, Jan. 14 is the date and UFC Apex in Las Vegas is the setting. Some of mixed martial arts’ brightest and fiercest will test their mettle. The main card was forced to make a last-minute substitution. Nassourdine Imavov (12-3) was all set to square off against Kelvin Gastelum until a few days ago when the latter announced he was pulling out of the fight due to a mouth injury.

Sean Strickland (25-5) volunteered to replace Gastelum, thus making Vegas 67’s main event a light heavyweight bout. Strickland is pinned as -120 on the MMA odds, whereas Imavov is -110.

Sean Strickland UFC Vegas 67

“Tarzan” puts himself in a delicate position if he hopes to relegate his losing streak to a distant memory. As recently as this past Sunday, the public was expecting an Imavov-Gastelum clash. Kudos to Strickland for deciding to cover for Gastelum on such short notice.

That said, the most recent of his trio of losses came barely a month ago. Dec. 17 was when he fell to Jared Cannonier by split decision. The serene-looking fighter went five rounds against Cannonier, exchanging blows and takedowns, but ultimately it wasn’t his night. Now, with less than a month of rest and training, and hardly a week before hopping onto the mat to face Imavov, one wonders how the American will fare.

His advantage over Saturday’s opponent is certainly being more experienced. Moreover, his 5.59 significant hits per minute are superior to Imavov’s 4.08. On the flip side, he also absorbs a lot of good whacks (4.18 per minute). Another critical area where Strickland may have the advantage is his impressive grappling techniques. With a success ratio of 62 per cent, he could slow the pace of the fight, draining his opponent’s energy in the process with considerable pins.

Nassourdine Imavov UFC Vegas 67

The Salon-de-Provence-based fighter, who goes by the nickname the Russian Sniper, walks into the ring with a three-game winning streak under his belt. After handling Ian Heinisch by TKO in July of 2021 and then Edmen Shahbazyan by TKO in November of that same year, his next challenge waited until September of 2022.

UFC Fight Night in Paris pitted the Russian-born, French national against American Joaquin Buckley. The Sniper’s supporters were out in full force, as was the fighter himself, displaying his cunning agility via several impressive grapples. Try as he did to avoid it, Buckley was pinned to the ground and tightly held in awkward positions by Imavov more than once, and by the end certainly looked a bit worse for wear. Nevertheless, the American did not go down without a fight, no pun intended. No TKO that time for Imavov, but rather a favourable, unanimous decision.  A rare occurrence, as only 18 per cent of his tilts required decisions.

Getting to Imavov is a challenge, as he only suffers 2.43 significant hits per minute. Furthermore, his success ratio on landing such hits is a solid 54 per cent, much higher than that of his Vegas 67 opponent’s 40 per cent. Paris might have been the exception regarding his grappling skills, as his takedown accuracy is only 23 per cent.

Strickland vs. Imavov UFC Vegas 67 Prediction

Nassourdine Imavov by split decision