The UFC will kick off its 2023 event schedule Saturday with UFC Fight Night 217, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a card that streams on ESPN+.
After the originally scheduled main and co-main events of the card were altered, the promotion will proceed with a makeshift light heavyweight headliner. Sean Strickland (25-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) will step in for the injured Kelvin Gastelum on just five days’ notice when he meets the streaking Nassourdine Imavov (12-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 217.
Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland
Strickland competes in his second consecutive UFC headliner. He lost the main event of UFC Fight Night 216 on Dec. 17.
Strickland enters the event on the first two-fight losing skid of his career.
Strickland moves up to the light heavyweight division for the first time. He previously competed at middleweight and welterweight.
Strickland can become the 15th fighter in UFC history to earn victories in three weight classes.
Strickland landed 186 significant strikes at UFC on ESPN 28, a single-fight record for a UFC middleweight bout.
Strickland lands 6.01 significant strikes per minute in UFC middleweight competition, the third-best rate in divisional history behind Paulo Costa (6.49) and Gregory Rodrigues (6.19).
Strickland defends 66.2 percent of all opponent strike attempts in UFC middleweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Strickland’s two victories in a 14-day stretch at UFC Fight Night 181 and UFC Fight Night 182 are tied for the third shortest span between non-tournament UFC wins.
Nassourdine Imavov
Nassourdine Imavov
Imavov competes in his first UFC main event.
Imavov is 9-1 in his past 10 fights dating back to November 2017.
Dan Ige
Dan Ige
Dan Ige (15-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has earned nine of his 15 career victories by stoppage. All three of his UFC stoppage victories have come in Round 1.
Ige’s three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since March 2021.
Ige is one of two featherweights in UFC/WEC combined history to earn multiple knockout wins in less than one minute. Chan Sung Jung is the other.
Damon Jackson
Damon Jackson
Damon Jackson (22-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) is 5-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September 2020.
Jackson has earned 19 of his 22 career victories by stoppage.
Jackson is the only fighter in UFC history to have a record of 1-1-1 with one no contest in his first four octagon appearances.
Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
Punahele Soriano
Punahele Soriano (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has earned eight of his nine career victories by stoppage.
Soriano has earned all three of his UFC victories by knockout.
Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington
Ketlen Vieira
Ketlen Vieira (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is 3-2 in her past five fights after starting her career on a 10-fight winning streak.
Vieira’s seven victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are tied for third-most in divisional history behind Amanda Nunes (12) and Raquel Pennington (10).
Vieira has earned six of her seven UFC victories by decision.
Vieira depends 92.3 percent of opponent takedown attempts in UFC women’s bantamweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Raquel Pennington’s (14-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) competes in her 16th UFC women’s bantamweight bout, the most appearances in divisional history.
Pennington’s total fight time of 3:37:33 in UFC women’s bantamweight competition is most in divisional history.
Pennington’s three-fight UFC winning streak at women’s bantamweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Pennington’s 10 victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Nunes (12).
Pennington’s eight decision victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are most in divisional history.
Pennington’s two submission victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Ronda Rousey (three).
Pennington is one of six fighters in UFC history to earn a bulldog-choke submission victory. She accomplished the feat against Ashlee-Evans Smith at UFC 181.
Claudio Ribeiro vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
Abdul Razak Alhassan
Abdul Razak Alhassan (11-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) is 1-2 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in April 2021.
Alhassan has earned all 11 of his career victories by first-round knockout.
Alhassan’s 17-second knockout at UFC on ESPN 30 marked the fastest finish in UFC history stemming from a head kick.
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks
Priscila Cachoeira
Priscila Cachoeira’s (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) 40-second knockout at UFC Fight Night 168 is the fastest stoppage in UFC women’s flyweight history.
Cachoeira’s two knockout victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Valentina Shevchenko (four).
Cachoeira’s two fight-night bonuses for UFC women’s flyweight bouts are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Molly McCann (three).
Sijara Eubanks (7-7 MMA, 5-5 UFC) is 1-1 since she returned to the UFC women’s flyweight division in July 2021. She’s 3-1 in the division with the promotion.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.