- Nassourdine Imavov has opened as the -200 favorite to beat Kelvin Gastelum (+168) at UFC Vegas 67 on January 14, 2023.
- Imavov has won his last three bouts and is coming off a win over Joaquin Buckley.
- Gastelum lost via unanimous decision to Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 34 and has lost five out of his last 6 bouts.
Nassourdine Imavov has opened as the odds-on favorite to beat Kelvin Gastelum in the first UFC main event of 2023.
According to the top UFC betting sites, Imavov is the -200 favorite and Gastelum the +168 underdog in the UFC Vegas 67 headliner. The event is scheduled for January 14, 2023, at the UFC’s Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The event is the first for the UFC in 2023 and Imavov’s first time to fight in a UFC main event. Meanwhile, Gastelum will be headlining his third straight Fight Night event.
Nassourdine Imavov Unleashes All Weapons Against Joaquin Buckley
UFC Paris results: Nassourdine Imavov unleashes all weapons against Joaquin Buckley to win a unanimous decision (@DamonMartin) https://t.co/IzhoTo7oee pic.twitter.com/auY5INQUrr
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) September 3, 2022
Imavov unleashed everything in the arsenal when he defeated Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision in his most recent bout at UFC Paris last September 3, 2022. That victory was the third straight for Imavov after suffering a narrow majority decision loss to Phil Hawes in his second UFC bout.
The 26-year-old from Dagestan in Russia is a former Thunderstrike Fight League welterweight champion. Imavov joined the UFC in 2020 and defeated Jordan Williams n his UFC debut. He is 4-1 under the UFC and has an overall record of 12-3 with 5 knockouts and 4 submission victories. Imavov owns knockout wins over Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan.
This marks only the second time where Imavov has opened as the betting favorite in a UFC bout and his shortest odds under the promotion. Imavov also opened as the -180 favorite when he fought Buckley. In his only UFC defeat, Imavov opened as the 105 underdog against Hawes and closed at +11 in that bout.
Jared Cannonier Dominates Kelvin Gastelum
Jared Cannonier dominates Kelvin Gastelum in UFC Fight Night main event. https://t.co/JOeZTcLtCv pic.twitter.com/ElkvGPrwn4
— theScore (@theScore) August 22, 2021
Meanwhile, Gastelum is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Jared Cannonier at the main event of UFC Vegas 34 last August 21, 2021, in a fight that Gastelum took on short notice. That defeat was the 5th in his last six bouts and his second straight after losing to Robert Whitaker at UFC Vegas 24.
The 31-year-old is the youngest winner of the TUF Tournament, beating Uriah Hall at the TUF 17 Finale at the age of 21. Gastelum challenged for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 36 but he was beaten via unanimous decision by then-champion Israel Adesanya. Prior to that bout, Gastelum won back-to-back fights against Michael Bisping and Jacare Souza. Overall, he has a record of 16-8 with six knockouts and four victories via submission.
Opening at plus-money odds isn’t something new to Gastelum who has won before from the underdog position. He opened at +160 odds against Johny Hendricks and +130 when he fought Tim Kenndy. Most recently, Gastelum was also the -105 bottom dog against Jacare Souza in 2018.
