EXCLUSIVE | Nassourdine Imavov Targets Title Contention By The End Of 2022

Nassourdine Imavov is hoping he’ll enjoy a great year that will put him in line for a shot at the UFC middleweight title currently held by Israel Adesanya.

The MMA Factory product is set for his first fight of 2022 on April 9 when he takes on former title contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 273.

During a recent interview with LowKickMMA, Imavov insisted that he isn’t sleeping on Gastelum but is planning to go through him on his journey towards a shot at UFC gold.

“Gastelum is a very tough opponent, you can’t sleep on him,” Imavov said via his coach/translator Fernand Lopez. “But that’s a good opponent to go and seek a bonus victory.

“He is a very good opponent, but we know how we can deal with him,” Imavov added. “There’s things that we’ve managed to create that we cannot disclose yet, but we have a game plan. We know how we are going to go in there and how we can beat him, we’ll be working on that.

Nassourdine Imavov Wants To Stay Busy 2022

All being well at UFC 273, Imavov is hoping that he can stay active and continue to fight top opponents in order to position himself towards the top of the 185lb division by the end of the year.

“I would like to fight as much as I can,” Imavov said. “If I’m healthy and you give me the opportunity to fight five times this year, I will fight five times. I really want to go for that belt.”

“My goal is to get there by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023,” Imavov continued. “I really want to be there in the discussion for the title.

Imavov is coming off successive TKO wins over Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan. The 26-year-old is currently ranked #12 in the middleweight division heading into the biggest fight of his career against Gastelum.

Do you think Nassourdine Imavov is a future middleweight champion?