Israel Adesanya can no longer be considered one of the top names at middleweight.
The former 185-pound champ—and one of the most decorated fighters in the division’s history—suffered his third consecutive loss on Saturday night, getting finished in the second round by French contender Nassourdine Imavov.
A clean overhand right from Imavov sent Adesanya tumbling in the opening moments of the second round from the anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After going down to a knee, a follow-up shot to the head put Adesanya on his back.
Imavov pounced on the hurt former champ, throwing a few more ground and pound shots following the knockdown. Referee Marc Goddard was quick to step in and end the fight by this point, extending Adesanya’s recent misfortunes and continuing an impressive run for Imavov.
The sudden second-round finish came after a cautious and slow-starting opening round, where Adeanya chipped away with leg kicks and defended takedown attempts, but notably ate a hard uppercut to the head late.
Adesanya has now suffered a trio of losses since late 2023 when a massive defeat to Sean Strickland suddenly ended his brief second reign with the UFC Middleweight Championship.
The New Zealander’s most recent fight prior to Saturday was an unsuccessful attempt at beginning a third run with the belt, losing to incumbent champ Dricus Du Plessis in August via fourth-round submission.
Adesanya, who behind Anderson Silva holds the second-most title defenses in middleweight history (five) and the second-longest combined days as champ in the division (1,289 days), posted a video of him watching the fight’s finishing sequence later that evening, admitting in the clip: “That’s how the game goes.”
“Rolled the dice… Snake eyes,” Adesanya captioned the post. “I’ll be back, gone to get some milk.”
While a new low for Adesanya, Saturday was undoubtedly a career-high for the fast-rising Imavov.
28-year-old Imavov is expected to move up from his fifth-place spot in the standings after this weekend, taking down second-place Adesanya.
Imavov has made huge progress in the middleweight division over just a 12-month period, putting together his best stretch of fights in the promotion since his 2020 debut. The Frenchman has recently also gotten past Roman Dolidze and Jared Cannonier in five-round fights, and in September overcame Brendan Allen in a three-round decision.
“The Sniper” now sees himself as a top contender in line for the middleweight title after Du Plessis and Sean Strickland battle it out at UFC 312 next weekend.
“I think there is no doubt I’m worth the belt,” Imavov said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “I mean, four victories in one year, two top-five, two top-10, two finishes. The record speaks for itself.”
The co-main event on Saturday night saw veteran striker Michael “Venom” Page take the undefeated record of rising Russian middleweight Shara Magomedov, working his way toward a unanimous decision victory after three rounds. The outcome slows the momentum of Magomedov, who has been heavily promoted on UFC’s past trips to Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Here’s a look at the results from Saturday’s UFC card:
Main Card (12:00PM EST / 8:00PM AST) (ESPN+)
Bout 11: Nassourdine Imavov def. Israel Adesanya via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:30)
Bout 10: Michael Page def. Shara Magomedov via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Sergei Pavlovich def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Vinicius Oliviera def. Said Nurmagomedov via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Fares Ziam def. Mike Davis via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (9:00AM EST / 5:00PM AST) (ESPN+)
Bout 6: Muhammad Naimov def. Kaan Ofli via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Shamil Gaziev def. Thomas Petersen via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:12)
Bout 4: Terrence McKinney def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:01)
Bout 3: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Mayra Bueno Silva via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Bogdan Grad def. Lucas Alexander via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:22)
Bout 1: Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Jamal Pogues via Decision, Split
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