Nassourdine Imavov calls for title fight after huge KO win over Israel Adesanya at UFC Saudi Arabia
Off the back of his spectacular win tonight, Nassourdine Imavov has staked his claim for a shot at the middleweight title following a decisive second round knockout win over former two-time champion, Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia.
Imavov, who entered tonight’s potential title eliminator clash against City Kickboxing star, Adesanya as the current number five ranked contender, extended his impressive winning run to four fights on the trot.
And turning in the most impressive victory of his Octagon tenure to date, Russian-French challenger, Imavov made relatively short work of former two-time gold holder, Adesanya inside the opening two rounds.
Capitalizing on a stoppage in the action following an inadvertent eye poke, Nassourdine Imavov would spring with a huge overhand right shot, sending a reeling Adesanya to the canvas, before unloading with a slew of ground strikes for a stunning KO win in Riyadh.
Nassourdine Imavov calls for title fight after UFC Saudi Arabia win
And off the back of his success, Imavov staked his claim for a shot at the middleweight belt — currently up for grabs later this month at UFC 312 in Australia, with Dricus du Plessis set to rematch ex-champion, Sean Strickland in a pairing ‘Downunder.
“I ask you the question, I ask you the question, 4 top 10, 2 top 5, 2 top 10, have only 1 name, 2 finishes, I think I still deserve the belt,” Nassourdine Imavov told Paul Felder during his post-fight interview following his win at UFC Saudi Arabia. “I ask you the question again, do I deserve the belt or not? Which is, the record speaks for itself.”
Now himself in the midst of a three-fight losing skid, prior to tonight’s title eliminator loss to Imavov via knockout, Adesanya had dropped a face crank submission loss to current champion, du Plessis, after dropping his championship to the previously mentioned, Strickland in a one-sided shutout loss.
