Nassourdine Imavov achieved a major career milestone by knocking out former champion Israel Adesanya in the second round of UFC Saudi Arabia’s main event, following a strategic plan that involved wrestling and striking, and now believes his recent victories warrant a title shot.
Nassourdine Imavov had a strategy for Israel Adesanya. He and his team saw it coming, but apparently, not many others did.
Imavov scored the biggest win of his career with a knockout of the former two-time champion in UFC Saudi Arabia’s main event. An accidental eye poke on Adesanya early in the second round set the stage. The 35-year-old chose to skip the rest period — a decision that led to Imavov’s decisive strike, sending Adesanya crashing to the canvas.
“That was the goal — to surprise you,” Imavov said at the post-fight press conference. “I told you a surprise was coming. We worked on it during the warmup, we worked on it during the whole week and it worked.”
“We knew he’d be in great shape. From the start, he was explosive and fast. But I had to use my wrestling, with the fence, to set up an uppercut. My rib was hurt, but I kept wrestling to feint and strike effectively.”
Imavov has won four straight fights in under a year. This includes a main event knockout of Jared Cannonier at UFC Louisville in June. “The Sniper” also earned decision victories over Brendan Allen and Roman Dolidze.
Many think Khamzat Chimaev will face the winner of next weekend’s title fight rematch between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland at UFC 312. However, Imavov believes his record deserves a shot at UFC gold first.
“I cleaned out the weight class in one year,” Imavov explained. “Four fights, two wins against top-10 competition, two finishes against top-five competition. Next is the belt.”