The American Sean Strickland beat the French Nassourdine Imavov by unanimous decision, Saturday in Las Vegas, at a UFC Fight Night event in a contested fight at light heavyweight.
Called on to replace Kelvin Gastelum, who suffered a mouth injury earlier this week, Strickland (26-5) controlled the overwhelming majority of the fight to end his two-game losing streak. Two judges handed cards 49-46 in favor of Strickland while the third saw him win 48-47.
Accustomed to fighting at middleweight, Imavov (12-4) swung the scale at just 194 pounds at the weigh-in, 10 pounds lighter than his opponent. Strickland used this advantage to put pressure on Imavov and frequently push him back once morest the cage.
Imavov sees his winning streak stop at three. He cashes his second defeat in six fights in the UFC.
Strickland scored points by shaking Imavov in the first round and taking his rival down in the second. The French however quickly got up and the rest of the round was played standing up.
The pace of the fight slowed somewhat in the third round and Strickland came back on the charge putting pressure on Imavov in the fourth.
Pressed by his coaches to aim for the K.-O. in the fifth round, Imavov emptied his tank, but Strickland did not flinch to slip away to victory.
So Strickland tastes victory once more following back-to-back losses to Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier. He was back in the octagon less than a month following losing by split decision in a tight duel once morest Cannonier.
