Athletes
Nassourdine Imavov Has Title Contention On His Mind
Middleweight Nassourdine Imavov Hopes To Put The Middleweight Elite On Notice At UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov
When Nassourdine Imavov made his way to the Octagon for his main event bout against Roman Dolidze in February, the 28-year-old flashed a smile. It was a small thing to those on the outside, but it was indicative of the changes he made prior to that bout, going from the MMA Factory to Venum Training Camp under Nicolas Ott. The shift was successful, as Imavov outhustled Dolidze to a decision win, Imavov’s first since September 2022.
“Mentally, I'm way better than I used to be,” Imavov said during his interview with UFC.com. “Because I feel confident in my team, I'm better. Being better mentally is maybe the most important thing when you walk into the cage.”
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Since joining the roster in October 2020, Imavov has shown time and time again the well-rounded skillset required to contend at 185 pounds. A trio of wins over Ian Heinisch, Edmen Shahbazyan and Joaquin Buckley put him in position for his first main event, but he would fall to former middleweight champion Sean Strickland to open 2023. Lessons learned, he hoped to quickly regain his momentum, but an accidental clash of heads while fighting Chris Curtis resulted in a no contest.
The bout with Dolidze proved Imavov was in the right space for himself, however, and he also displayed an improvement in pacing himself over the course of 25 minutes. As he readies for his first non-UFC APEX main event in Louisville against Jared Cannonier, Imavov is more than confident in his position as the headliner.
“I feel like I'm getting better at it,” he said. “I feel like I even prefer fighting a five-round fight. I worked a lot in the training camp on the pacing of the fight in order to be able to produce great things all around the fight.”
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Granted, not all 25-minute fights are created equal, and Imavov is facing his stiffest test to date in Cannonier, who is tied for third among active middleweights with four knockout wins. He also has finishes in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
Simply put, “Tha Killa Gorilla” is not one with which to mess around.
Even so, Imavov is naturally confident in his ability to pick and prod and find his own finish in the space of 25 minutes. Facing someone 12 years his senior, Imavov feels like it’s his time to break into the middleweight title picture. While a finish is always the goal, a good performance in a fun fight is something Imavov also sees as a big step toward a title shot.
“I'm young, hungry, motivated and in top shape,” Imavov said. “That's what (Cannonier) is going to face in the Octagon on Saturday.”
Finishes are always king, however, and Imavov is itching to pick up his first one since November 2021, when he stopped Shahbazyan in the second round. Doing so would be quite the feather in his cap. Since Cannonier moved to middleweight in November 2018, his only two losses came against former champions Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker, both decisions. He is also coming off a record-setting win over Marvin Vettori in which he battered the Italian to the tune of 241 significant strikes landed, tops in a single middleweight fight.
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It was a win that had Cannonier on the precipice of his second title shot before injury kept him out of action for the latter half of 2023 and start of 2024. This all goes to the benefit of Imavov, though, who can announce himself as part of the middleweight elite with a win on June 8.
Of course, he has style points on his mind, as well.
A beautiful knockout — that's what I want,” he said. “That's what the fans want. That's what the UFC wants.”
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov took place live from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on June 8, 2024. See the final Prelims & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
