Nassourdine Imavov Intent on Title Shot Following Signature Win at UFC Saudi Arabia
Nassourdine Imavov has gradually been building an impressive resume over the course of the past year.
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“To be honest, it’s just another victory,” Imavov said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. “A fight is a fight. Obviously, it feels great to beat someone who’s a legend of the sport.”
In addition to Adesanya, Imavov has bested the likes of Brendan Allen, Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze during a run that began in February 2024. The Frenchman believes it’s more than enough to have earned himself a crack at middleweight gold. Conveniently enough, the title will be on the line next Saturday when Dricus Du Plessis faces Sean Strickland in the UFC 312 main event.
“I cleaned [out] the weight class in one year,” Imavov said. “Four fights, two wins against Top-10 competition, two [finishes] against Top-5 competition. Next is the belt.”
While Imaov was an underdog heading into the showdown with Adesanya, the Frenchman proved that he was a talent on the rise by rallying from a slow start to put his opponent away. According to Imavov, the tide began to turn toward the end of the first round when he landed an uppercut to get his opponent’s attention.
“That was the goal — to surprise you. I told you a surprise was coming,” Imavov said. “We worked on it during the warmup, we worked on it during the whole week and it worked.
“We knew he would come in in very good shape. That’s what he did from the very beginning, very explosive, very fast. But I had to put my wrestling on, and with the wrestling, [using] the fence with the wrestling, the uppercut would come. My rib was hurt, but I kept wrestling to be able to feint, to be able to strike with the fence.”
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