Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and rising contender Nassourdine Imavov both successfully weighed in at an even 185 pounds Friday morning ahead of their five-round Fight Night main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This will be Adesanya’s first non-title bout in roughly six years as the former longtime titleholder looks to get back in the win column following back-to-back losses to Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.
Adesanya’s lengthy middleweight title reign ended 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 knockout win at UFC 287 but lost it via 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.
Next weekend’s UFC 312 is headlined by a championship rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland, this time with the roles reversed, and the winner of Adesanya vs. Imavov will remain in the immediate middleweight title picture.
Imavov enters his matchup with Izzy ranked as the No. 5 contender in the division and the 29-year-old from France is coming off consecutive wins over Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen.
The UFC debuted in Saudi Arabia 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.
Saturday’s headliner will be the 13th consecutive five-round contest Adesanya has prepared for. In the other corner, Imavov is getting more accustomed to the spotlight with this being his fourth UFC Fight Night main event in the past two years.
The co-main event also features a pair of talented strikers in the middleweight division. Undefeated Shara Magomedov is set to face Michael “Venom” Page who typically competes in the welterweight division.
Canada’s Jasmine Jasudavicius will look to extend her winning streak on the preliminary card against Mayra Bueno Silva who is moving back down to the flyweight division.
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 and lost her UFC 303 fight with Macy Chiasson due to a nasty cut that forced the doctor to stop the action.
The event also has three heavyweight tilts, including a meeting of heavy hitters Sergei Pavlovich and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
All fighters scheduled to compete on Saturday’s card made weight save for one.
Lucas Alexander missed the featherweight limit by 2.5 pounds ahead of his matchup with Bogdan Grad. The UFC announced the bout will proceed and Alexander will forfeit 30 per cent of his purse to Grad.
Below are the complete weigh-in results for UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs. Imavov.
MAIN CARD
-- Israel Adesanya (185) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (185)
-- Shara Magomedov (185) vs. Michael Page (185.5)
-- Sergei Pavlovich (249) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (252)
-- Said Nurmagomedov (135.5) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (135)
-- Fares Ziam (156) vs. Mike Davis (155.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Muhammad Naimov (145.5) vs. Kaan Ofli (145)
-- Shamil Gaziev (260) vs. Thomas Petersen (263)
-- Terrance McKinney (156) vs. Damir Hadžović (155.5)
-- Jasmine Jasudavicius (125) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (126)
-- Bogdan Grad (145.5) vs. Lucas Alexander (148.5)*
-- Hamdy Abdelwahab (260) vs. Jamal Pogues (264)
*fighter missed weight
7:29
3:29
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