Israel Adesanya will look for a return to winning form when he faces Nassourdine Imavov in the middleweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday evening.
Adesanya (24-4), the former king of the middleweight division, has lost three of his last four matches, most recently suffering a submission loss at the hands of Dricus du Plessis in August of last year.
The 35-year-old Nigerian-born ‘Last Stylebender’ will have his first non-title fight since 2019 and seems to have a more relaxed attitude coming into this bout.
“This is my first time losing twice in a row,” explained Adesanya. “The first one I was like, 'Ah f***. What could I have done different?' The second one I was like, 'Okay. I tried my best but I could have done better.' Now it's like... You just can't take it personal.”
The former champion added, “The last two opponents [Sean Strickland and Du du Plessis], yeah, it was personal in a way because they tried to attack my character.
“When you think about it - I'm so far removed from it now - I'm like, 'Bro, you don't even know me and can spread lies and say whatever you want about me but you just don't take it personally.
"It's a fight. We're going to go in there and fight. I don't need all that sh** any more. You'll see. It's easier said than done. The hands will talk.”
Imavov (15-4, 1 NC) comes into the clash on the back of three straight wins over Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen through 2024 – and a triumph over a former division champion would put the 29-year-old Frenchman in the title picture.
The co-main event is a potential thriller in the middleweight division pitting the unbeaten ‘Shara Bullet’ Sharaputdin Magomedov against ‘MVP’ Michael Page.
The rest of the main card features a bantamweight clash between Said Nurmagomedov and Vinicius Oliveira; and a heavyweight bout pitting Sergei Pavlovich against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
UFC Fight Night: Adesanya v Imavov – Main card
- Main event: Middleweight: Israel Adesanya v Nassourdine Imavov
- Middleweight: Sharaputdin Magomedov v Michael Page
- Heavyweight: Sergei Pavlovich v Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov v Vinicius Oliveira
- Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov v Andre Muniz
- Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov v Kaan Ofli