The UFC kicked off another busy year of action Saturday with UFC Fight Night 217. It was the first of an expected 42 events from the promotion in 2023, and it went down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Although six fights on the card ended in a stoppage, the main event went the distance as Sean Strickland (26-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) managed to outwork and outpoint Nassourdine Imavov (12-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) to win a unanimous decision on short notice in the light heavyweight headliner.
Fore more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 217.
Events stats
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $137,000.
Debuting fighters went 1-4 at the event.
Dan Ige, Roman Kopylov, Umar Nurmagomedov and Allan Nascimento earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 217 fight-night bonuses.
The UFC sold VIP tickets to fans for UFC Fight Night 217, but the promotion did not make public the total number of tickets sold or the gate.
Betting favorites went 8-3 on the card.
Betting favorites fell to 0-1 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 11-bout card was 1:55:56.
Sean Strickland def. Nassourdine Imavov
Strickland became the 16th fighter in history to earn victories in three UFC weight classes.
Strickland is the third fighter in UFC history to earn victories at light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight. Ildemar Alcantara and Trevin Giles also accomplished the feat.
Strickland has earned nine of his 13 UFC victories by decision.
Strickland landed 100+ significant strikes for the fifth time in his UFC career.
Imavov has suffered three of his four career losses by decision. That includes both of his UFC defeats.
Dan Ige def. Damon Jackson
Ige (16-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) snapped his three-fight losing skid for his first victory since March 2021.
Damon Jackson (22-5-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) fell to 5-2 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September 2020.
Roman Kopylov def. Punahele Soriano
Kopylov (10-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned all nine of his career stoppage victories by knockout.
Kopylov has earned both of his UFC victories by knockout.
Punahele Soriano (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a knockout defeat.
Raquel Pennington def. Ketlen Vieira
Raquel Pennington (15-8 MMA, 12-5 UFC) 11 victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Amanda Nunes (12).
Pennington’s total fight time of 3:52:33 in UFC women’s bantamweight competition is most in divisional history.
Pennington’s four-fight UFC winning streak at women’s bantamweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Pennington’s nine decision victories in UFC women’s bantamweight competition are most in divisional history.
Ketlen Vieira (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) fell to 3-3 in her past six fights after starting her career on a 10-fight winning streak.
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Raoni Barcelos
Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earned his first knockout victory since March 31, 2017 – a span of 2,115 days and 13 fights.
Raoni Barcelos (17-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
Javid Basharat def. Mateus Mendonca
Javid Basharat (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
Mateus Mendonca (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his 10-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Claudio Ribeiro
Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) improved to 2-2 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in April 2021.
Alhassan has earned all 12 of his career victories by knockout.
Claudio Ribeiro (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered two of his three career losses by stoppage.
Ribeiro suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
Mateusz Rebecki def. Nick Fiore
Nick Fiore (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his six-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Allan Nascimento def. Carlos Hernandez
Nascimento (20-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has suffered 16 of his 20 career victories by stoppage.
Carlos Hernandez (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a submission defeat.
Dan Argueta def. Nick Aguirre
Nick Aguirre (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his seven-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Charles Johnson def. Jimmy Flick
Jimmy Flick (16-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has suffered five of his six career losses by stoppage.
Flick has suffered all five of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
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.
