Imavov Stops Adesanya in Riyadh
At the Riyadh event on February 1, 2025, Nassourdine Imavov stopped Israel Adesanya with a right hand and follow-up punches at 0:30 of the second round. Imavov entered on a three-fight winning streak and extended it with the biggest win of his career.
Adesanya was seeking a rebound after losses to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. The preview described him as the favorite, but odds varied by sportsbook and time: CBS Sports listed Adesanya at -160 and Imavov at +130 on fight day. Imavov’s second-round knockout made that pre-fight expectation moot.
Imavov’s momentum before Riyadh
Imavov’s winning streak had included three distinct tests in 2024. He defeated Roman Dolidze by majority decision, stopped Jared Cannonier and then won a unanimous decision over Brendan Allen. His official UFC history records the three victories that preceded the Adesanya matchup.
The Riyadh main event gave him an opportunity against a former two-time middleweight champion. Adesanya had regained that title by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in April 2023 before his subsequent losses to Strickland and Du Plessis. Both fighters therefore entered with different recent trajectories: Imavov was building a run of wins, while Adesanya sought to reverse consecutive defeats.
The confirmed result
The contest took place at anb Arena and ended early in round two. Imavov’s right hand and follow-up punches resolved the bout without a judges’ decision. The finish extended his streak to four victories and added a former champion to the opponents he had defeated.
The video above remains a pre-fight assessment. Its expectations and the archived odds belong to the buildup; the official second-round stoppage is the outcome of the completed fight.
Sources
- Official judges’ scorecards and finish time
- Official main-card results
- CBS Sports fight-day odds
