Outside Source
Nassourdine Imavov pleased the home crowd at UFC Paris. | Getty/UFC
As far as Nassourdine Imavov is concerned, he solidified his spot as the No. 1 contender in the ’s middleweight division on Saturday in the City of Lights.
“The Sniper” outdueled Caio Borralho for five rounds in the UFC Paris headliner, earning a unanimous decision for his fifth consecutive triumph within the Las Vegas-based promotion. During that run, the Frenchman has also bested the likes of Israel Adesanya, Brendan Allen, Jared Cannonier and Roman Dolidze. While an upcoming clash between Anthony Hernandez and Reinier de Ridder could also factor significantly into determining the next title challenger for reigning champ Khamzat Chimaev — Imavov is confident his latest victory speaks for itself.
“In my opinion, of course I did enough to go fight for the belt,” Imavov said through a translator on ESPN.
Imavov will likely be a considerable underdog against the undefeated Chimaev, who dominated Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 to claim 185-pound gold last month. That role is just fine with Imavov.
“It suits me very well. I like to be the underdog, and when I’m the underdog, I give the best performance,” Imavov said.
Imavov Details Injury That Hindered Performance
While Imavov was able to outland Borralho on the feet and defend all five of his takedowns on Saturday, he mentioned a foot injury in his post-fight interview in the Octagon. While he was unable to offer further details in the aftermath, he did share how it hindered his performance.
“I don’t know exactly what it is, but even a week ago I had the pain — it got worse and worse,” he said. “And during the fight, it got worse and worse. I couldn’t do the footwork as usual, so I had to stay in place and slip the punches instead of using the footwork.”
Despite those obstacles, Imavov’s win got a “good fight” designation from Chimaev on social media. However, it’s unlikely anything will be decided until de Ridder and Hernandez meet at UFC Vancouver on Oct. 18.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
