Nassourdine Imavov stuns Israel Adesanya with knockout at UFC Saudi Arabia

Nassourdine Imavov put the rest of the UFC middleweight division on notice.

The rising contender picked up the biggest win of his professional fighting career Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a stunning main event knockout of former longtime champion Israel Adesanya.

Saturday’s Fight Night event marked Adesanya’s first non-title bout in roughly six years. The former longtime titleholder was coming off back-to-back losses to Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

Adesanya’s most recent non-title fight prior to Saturday was his 2019 three-round win over past great Anderson Silva. Saturday’s main event was also the 13th consecutive five-round contest Adesanya has prepared for, while it was Imavov’s fourth UFC Fight Night main event in the past two years as he continues to get more accustomed to the spotlight.

“The Last Stylebender” began his mixed martial arts career 20-0 and didn’t suffer his first loss until he attempted to become a simultaneous two-weight champion in 2020, falling short in a unanimous decision to Jan Blachowicz, who at the time was the 205-pound champion.

Adesanya’s first stumble in the middleweight division happened in 2022 when he lost to his longtime kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira, who has since moved up to 205 pounds and captured that title as well. Adesanya regained his title from “Poatan” in 2023 thanks to a highlight-reel knockout win at UFC 287 but lost then it via unanimous decision to Strickland five months later.

The belt changed possession again quickly when Strickland dropped a split decision to Du Plessis at UFC 297 in Toronto one year ago.

Du Plessis earned his first title defence with a submission victory over Adesanya at UFC 305 this past summer. Adesanya was eventually overwhelmed by Du Plessis in that matchup and tapped out for the first time in his career when he was swarmed in the fourth round.

Against Imavov, Adesanya looked sturdy when he stuffed Imavov’s first takedown attempt early in Round 1, responding with a lateral drop of his own.

Izzy stayed sharp on the feet, switching stances smoothly and gliding out of range, however, Round 2 was a different story entirely.

Imavov uncorked a massive overhand right that sent Adesanya tumbling to the canvas less than 30 seconds into the round. He was unable to fully recover and the referee called a halt to the action.

Imavov entered the biggest bout of his career ranked as the No. 5 contender at 185 pounds after coming off consecutive wins over Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen.

The 29-year-old from France is now 8-2 in the UFC with one no contest. His first loss was a majority decision to Phil Hawes back in 2021 and he also dropped a five-round decision on relatively short notice to Strickland when they met at 205 pounds two years ago.

Imavov said in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder that he is eyeing a title shot, and a clearcut finish of a former champion like Adesanya moves him closer to getting a chance at fighting for UFC gold.

The middleweight division will remain front and centre this month and next weekend’s UFC 312 is headlined by a championship rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland, only with the roles reversed and Strickland entering as the challenger this time.

Saturday’s event at ANB Arena was only the second time the UFC has held an event in Saudi Arabia.

The organization debuted there seven months ago with a main event that also featured a former middleweight champion taking on a touted rising contender. That night, Robert Whittaker ended up making quick work of short-notice opponent Ikram Aliskerov with a first-round knockout.

Whittaker spent time at the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, New Zealand, helping prepare Adesanya for Imavov even though the pair are former rivals. Adesanya initially won the title by ending Whittaker’s reign in 2019 via knockout then won a tightly contested five-round rematch less than two-and-a-half years later. Whittaker “brightened up the later part of this camp” according to what Adesanya told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter prior to facing Imavov.

A win would’ve kept Adesanya near the top of the division. Now that the 35-year-old is on the first three-fight losing streak of his career, it’s unclear what will come next for the future Hall of Famer.

The co-main event featured Michael “Venom” Page moving up a division and handing the touted Shara Magomedov his first loss in the sport in a matchup of unique strikers.

Both men are light on their feet and known for effectively using flashy and uncommon techniques to finish their opponents. Russia’s Magomedov, 30, was coming off a double spinning backfist KO win, while Page has a résumé full of highlight knockouts dating back to his days as a Bellator MMA star.

England’s Page, 37, was coming off decisions against welterweight stars Ian Machado Garry and Kevin Holland — losing a close one to Machado Garry and beating Holland unanimously — and kept Magomedov at bay with his distance management and unconventional movement and timing.

Despite being seven years older and coming up from a lighter division, it was Page who controlled the action and landed the more effective strikes throughout the three-round contest. Page improved to 23-3 in MMA as Magomedov fell to 15-1.

In other action, heavyweight knockout artists Sergei Pavlovich and Jairzinho Rozenstruik both took a tentative approach and were wary of the other’s punching power, resulting in a not-so-exciting fight that went the distance.

Pavlovich was bouncing back from consecutive losses to Alexander Volkov and interim champion Tom Aspinall but swept the scorecards on his return to the win column. Rozenstruik had a two-fight winning streak snapped.

Vinicius Oliveira improved to 3-0 in the UFC and overcame a rib injury during a unanimous decision win over Said Nurmagomedov. 

Lightweights Fares Ziam and Mike Davis went back and forth for three bloody rounds with Ziam becoming the first fighter since Gilbert Burns to hand Davis a loss. Ziam has won five consecutive fights since a first-round submission loss to Terrance McKinney almost three years ago.

McKinney happened to also be in action on Saturday, picking up a first-round technical knockout win over Damir Hadzovic on the prelims. Hadzovic hadn’t fought since 2022 and has lost four of his past five overall dating back to 2019.

Heavyweight Shamil Gaziev followed McKinney’s two-minute win with an impressive stoppage of Thomas Petersen, landing a crisp right hand that shut off his opponent’s lights roughly three minutes into the opening round.

Also on the preliminary card, Jasmine Jasudavicius extended her winning streak with a dominant showing against Mayra Bueno Silva. The Canadian flyweight swept the scorecards en route to a unanimous decision victory for her fourth win in a row, as her and her opponent made some UFC history.

Jasudavicius and Bueno Silva became the first female fighters to compete on a UFC card in Saudi Arabia. The women were briefed on local customs by UFC officials before arriving and were advised to cover their hair and up to their elbows and past their knees during the week while fulfilling media obligations. In the cage, the women wore fight custom kits that covered their midriffs.

When the action began, it didn’t take long for the Niagara Top Team member to impose her will on Bueno Silva. Jasudavicius fought through a guillotine choke attempt midway through the opening round and patiently passed into side control where she began dominating the action from the top position and that was the story throughout much of the 15-minute contest.

Jasudavicius out-struck Bueno Silva 164-41 overall and secured one takedown in each round that allowed her to accumulate control time and impose her will.

“It’s such an honour to be able to do this,” Jasudavicius said following her historic win.

The streaking 35-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., pointed out in her post-fight speech that Bueno Silva recently fought for a bantamweight title and that this win shows she’s in hot pursuit of a title shot herself.

Jasudavicius entered Saturday’s event ranked as the No. 12 contender at 125 pounds. Bueno Silva was the No. 7-ranked bantamweight contender but was not ranked at flyweight.

When Jasudavicius was asked who she wants to face next, she replied: “Whoever’s the closest to the top. I’ll take anyone.”

Bueno Silva had a nice run at 135 pounds and challenged Raquel Pennington for the vacant bantamweight title 12 months ago. She fell short against Pennington, however, and lost her UFC 303 matchup with Macy Chiasson due to a nasty cut that forced the doctor to stop the action.

The 33-year-old from Brazil has lost three in a row and will look to regroup. This was Bueno Silva’s first time competing at 125 pounds since a unanimous decision loss to top contender Manon Fiorot in 2021.

In other preliminary action, recent Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Bogan Grad earned his first UFC victory with a second-round technical knockout over Brazil’s Lucas Alexander. Austria’s Grad improved to 15-2 in MMA and is 9-1 since 2022. Alexander was the lone fighter to miss weight at Friday’s official weigh-in and forfeited 30 per cent of his purse to Grad.

Muhammad Naimov put in a thorough effort in his three-round featherweight win over recent TUF finalist Kaan Ofli.

The opening bout saw Hamdy Abdelwahab return to action for the first time in two-and-a-half years after he served a two-year drug suspension for testing positive for a banned substance in 2022. Abdelwahab improved to 4-0 as a pro with a sloppy split decision win over Jamal Pogues.