UFC Saudi Arabia: Nassourdine Imavov stops Israel Adesanya in second round

Photo Courtesy: UFC

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya suffered his third consecutive loss on Saturday after a second-round stoppage by Nassourdine Imavov.

The UFC’s return to Saudi Arabia was highlighted by the middleweight main event where 29-year-old Imavov scored the biggest win of his nine-year career.

After an errant eye poke in the early moments of the second round, action resumed and Imavov caught the former champion with a right hand. Imavov turned up the pressure by landing an uppercut and additional strikes before it was waved off.

Imavov (16-4, 1 NC) achieved his fourth consecutive victory after wins against Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier, and Brendan Allen throughout a busy 2024.

Adesanya (24-5) is winless in his last three outings as this TKO follows losses to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis, which were championship bouts. It marks the second time in Adesanya’s MMA career that the former kickboxer has been stopped with Alex Pereira being the other to hold those bragging rights.

The main event stoppage allowed Imavov to earn a Performance of the Night bonus for an additional $50,000.

In the co-feature, Michael ‘Venom’ Page ended the undefeated streak of Sharabutdin Magomedov after three rounds of action.

The middleweight clash went the distance and Page earned the nod on the three judge’s scorecards.

Page (23-3) debuted for the UFC last March with a decision win against Kevin Holland but was coming off a decision loss to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303 last June.

Magomedov, 30, held a 15-0 record coming into the fight with four wins in the UFC.

The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to bantamweights Vinicius Oliveira and Said Nurmagomedov with Imavov and Bogdan Grad receiving the Performance of the Night bonuses.

Full results:
*Nassourdine Imavov def. Israel Adesanya by TKO at 0:30 of Round 2
*Michael Page def. Sharabutdin Magomedov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Sergei Pavlovich def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Vinicius Oliveira def. Said Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Farès Ziam def. Mike Davis by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Muhammad Naimov def. Kaan Ofli by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Shamil Gaziev def. Thomas Peterson by TKO at 3:12 of Round 1
*Terrance McKinney def. Damir Hadžović by TKO at 2:01 of Round 1
*Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Marya Bueno Silva by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Bogdan Grad def. Lucas Alexander by TKO at 4:22 of Round 2
*Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Jamal Pogues by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

About John Pollock 6010 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.