Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been called out by a few rising fighters in his division, but the man seemingly on course to challenge him in his next fight is No. 5-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.
According to multiple reports on Tuesday night, Adesanya vs. Imavov is in the works for the massive February 1 card set for The Venue in Saudi Arabia. The location was recently used on Saturday, November 16, for Golden Boy Promotions’ Latino Night boxing card.
That event reportedly struggled with attendance, which isn’t likely to happen with the UFC.
There is a good chance that if Adesanya-Imavov is on the card, it would be the main event.
If Adesanya-Imavov is added, it will join this selection of fights already reportedly agreed to for the event.
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. André Muniz
- Serghei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Petersen
The matchups already have a good number of ranked fighters scheduled to be in action. Gaziev was recently added to the heavyweight rankings at No. 15, thanks to the retirement of Stipe Miocic. Jasudavicius is at No. 13 in the flyweight division, and former title challenger Bueno Silva is moving down to 125 pounds for this fight.
No. 4 Pavlovich and No. 9 Rozenstruik is a battle of Top 10 heavyweights. We’ll see how the rest of the card shapes up.
Adesanya is in the most brutal stretch of his MMA career. He has lost three of his last four and has been stopped in two of those losses. He’s coming off a submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis in August 2024.
At 35, the end could be near for Adesanya. A loss to Imavov could mean the end is coming for the future Hall of Famer sooner rather than later.
Imavov’s arrow is pointed in the opposite direction. The Russian Sniper has won three in a row over ranked competition. Most recently, he handed Brendan Allen a unanimous decision defeat.
If Imavov wins, he could vault as high as No. 2 in the division and put himself on the cusp of a title shot. The middleweight title picture is a little unsettled beneath Du Plessis.
Former champion Sean Strickland was promised the next shot, a rematch of their close fight in January. However, Khamzat Chimaev’s dominant win over Robert Whittaker has seemingly made him the more appealing choice for the UFC and even Du Plessis, who has said he is more excited for a title defense against him than Strickland.
No matter who gets the next title shot, there is a good chance Strickland and Chimaev will have fought by the time the Saudi card rolls around. If he beats Adesanya, he could still be one more win away from getting his title shot.
If Adesanya wins, he will have further sealed the Top 5 group of the 185-pound division. Brazilian Caio Borralho is hot on Imavov’s tail at No. 6 but doesn’t currently have a fight scheduled.
That could change soon. If the UFC does elect to give Chimaev the next title shot, I could see them trying to entice Strickland into fighting Borralho instead. The next six months will be interesting in the middleweight division as many questions will be answered.
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