Nassourdine Imavov’s Next Step After the Israel Adesanya
Nassourdine Imavov entered the middleweight title conversation with his second-round knockout of former champion Israel Adesanya in Riyadh on February 1, 2025. The finish came at 0:30 of round two. Adesanya had lost the title to Sean Strickland in 2023.
Imavov’s win was not a quiet points victory: he dropped Adesanya with a right hand and followed with a left uppercut, prompting the referee to stop the bout. Adesanya had won the opening round on all three judges’ cards, making the turnaround especially striking. The official event result and scorecards record both the finish and the early scoring. It was a major result for Imavov, but one victory did not automatically guarantee a championship fight in a crowded division.
Video context: The embedded clip is a post-fight show discussing Adesanya’s loss at the Riyadh event. It is analysis of the event, not a full broadcast of the Imavov–Adesanya fight.
The immediate question was whether the victory would lead to a title opportunity. Instead, the next test came on September 6, 2025, when Imavov headlined in Paris against Caio Borralho. Imavov won that five-round contest by unanimous decision, with scores of 50–45, 49–46 and 49–46. The official Paris results show how he followed the Adesanya finish with a longer, measured win over another leading middleweight contender.
The Borralho bout answered one practical question about Imavov’s level: he could sustain a five-round main event against a ranked opponent and win clearly on the judges’ cards. The result extended his winning streak in the promotion to five, according to the official athlete profile. Before the fight, proposed matchups with Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier were possibilities discussed around the division, not announced bookings. The Paris result, rather than those predictions, became the next concrete milestone in his title case. The official fighter profile’s recorded sequence also puts the win in context: after losing to Sean Strickland in January 2023, Imavov beat Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier, Brendan Allen, Adesanya and Borralho. The stretch included a majority decision, two stoppages and two unanimous decisions, giving selectors several recent performances to weigh rather than a single highlight finish.
As of October 16, 2026, Imavov’s next step is again tied to the championship picture. A September 28 report by MMA Fighting said Sean Strickland described pay as the remaining issue in discussions for a potential title fight with Imavov. The report also said the promotion had not officially announced the bout. That distinction matters: negotiations reported by a fighter are a meaningful development, but they are not a confirmed booking, date or venue.
So the answer to “what’s next?” has changed with time. In February 2025, Imavov needed to turn the Adesanya knockout into another defining result; he did that against Borralho in Paris seven months later. The latest public development points toward a possible title opportunity with Strickland, subject to the terms being finalized and the promotion making an official announcement. Until then, his established record is the two headline wins that built the case, while the next fight remains unconfirmed.
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Tags: MMA
