Tag: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia main event

Israel Adesanya is only moderately favored to rebound from a two-fight skid at UFC Saudi Arabia.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] will look to rebound when he takes on rising middleweight contender [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] in the UFC Fight Night 250 main event.

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov preview

Former champion Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) is coming off a title loss to middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August, marking his second consecutive defeat. “The Last Stylebender” will compete in his first non-title fight since February 2019.

Meanwhile, Imavov (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has won three in a row, most recently snapping Brendan Allen’s seven-fight winning streak this past September at UFC Fight Night 243.

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov odds

According to DraftKings, Adesanya is a moderate -185 favorite over Imavov, who’s listed as a +154 underdog.

How to watch Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia

  • When: Saturday, February 1, 2025
  • Where: ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • Broadcast/streaming: ESPN+

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 250.

Overreaction Time: Covington a fraud? Sold on Topuria to 155? Adesanya under pressure? More!

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” on the fallout from UFC Tampa, plus some major developments and a big main event booked.

The time for overreacting is here!

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” at noon ET/9 a.m. PT as host Simon Samano and MMA Junkie Radio host “Gorgeous” George Garcia debate these “overreactions” on the following topics in mixed martial arts:

  • UFC Tampa newsflash: [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] was a FRAUD this whole time.
  • UFC Tampa: [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag] is the MOST DANGEROUS fighter in the welterweight division.
  • UFC Tampa: The best finish of the night was ROBBED of a bonus.
  • [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] moving to lightweight would be a GOOD MOVE for his career.
  • [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] was WISE to brush off Alexandre Pantoja’s callout.
  • UFC Saudi Arabia: The pressure is on [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] to win DEFINITIVELY against Nassourdine Imavov.

Watch the full episode in the video above.

Israel Adesanya headlines UFC Saudi Arabia vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is back.

UFC star [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] finds himself he hasn’t been in for almost six years.

On Feb. 1, Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will compete in his first non-title bout since February 2019 when he headlines a UFC Fight Night 250 card vs. [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC). The card takes place at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+).

UFC CEO Dana White announced the headliner on Saturday. The bout was first reported by Knockout Alerts.

Adesanya, 35, aims to snap the first multi-loss skid of his MMA career. After his upset unanimous decision loss to Sean Strickland in September 2023. He then challenged rival Dricus Du Plessis for gold in August and was submitted in Round 4.

Imavov, 28, has slowly but surely climbed the middleweight ladder since his debut in October 2020. He rides a three-fight winning streak into the most high-profile fight of his career. That streak is comprised of victories over Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier, and Brendan Allen.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 250 lineup includes:

  • Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov
  • Shara Magomedov vs. Michael Page
  • Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
  • Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz
  • Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira
  • Damir Hadzovic vs. Terrance McKinney
  • Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Jordan Leavitt
  • Lucas Alexander vs. Bogdan Grad
  • Muhammad Naimov vs. Kaan Ofli
  • Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues
  • Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
  • Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Petersen

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Saudi Arabia.

Israel Adesanya gives UFC 309 prediction for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Israel Adesanya gives his UFC 309 main event analysis for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic and his pick is clear.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] expects [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] to make it look easy against [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag].

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes his first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Jones’ heavyweight debut was impressive. He needed just over two minutes to submit Ciryl Gane and claim the vacant title at UFC 285. Adesanya admits he didn’t expect Jones to run through Gane like that.

“Jon Jones lately looks better at heavyweight already,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “He has been taking it seriously, and the way he fights, the Ciryl Gane fight was the one that made me go, ‘He’s the best,’ because I thought Ciryl Gane was going to give him some trouble.

“Ciryl was the new-age heavyweight, and Jon’s like, ‘Hold my beer.’ He just sneakily, none of us knew, even ‘DC’ was like, ‘What did he catch him with?’ It was a sneaky front choke. The guy is just crafty, creative at what he does.”

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Miocic is a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, but hasn’t competed since losing his belt to Francis Ngannou by knockout in March 2021. Despite being high on Miocic’s ability, Adesanya thinks Jones will be too much for him.

“Stipe is tough,” Adesanya continued. “He can outwork a lot of heavyweights, we’ve seen what he’s done in the past. We’ve seen his reign as a heavyweight, he’s knocked people out, submitted people. But this fight, I think he’s up against it. I’m going to pick Jon Jones. First two rounds, he’s going to finish him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Caio Borralho says he’s ‘in talks’ to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 312 in February

Caio Borralho could land a breakthrough opportunity against former UFC champion Israel Adesanya early next year.

ABU DHABI – Yes, [autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] is on Fight Island for UFC 308 fight week. But, no, he’s not there to weigh in as a backup for the co-headliner between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev.

However, Borralho could soon be fighting another former UFC middleweight champion.

On Tuesday, Borralho revealed to MMA Junkie that discussions are ongoing for him to fight [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] this coming February at UFC 312 in Sydney.

“I want to fight Izzy. We are in talks with UFC, but nothing confirmed yet,” Borralho said. “But that’s the fight we want. I think that’s the fight that makes sense. Adesanya already fought all the guys from (the) top five. Just me and (Nassourdine) Imavov he didn’t fight, but Imavov didn’t (have) a good fight last time, so I think they’re thinking about me. Let’s see what the UFC wants.”

The pairing does seem to make sense. Borralho, who’s No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings at 185 pounds, seemingly is in line for a major opportunity after winning a five-round unanimous decision against former title challenger Jared Cannonier. The result, which earned the 2021 Dana White’s Contender Series alum a Fight of the Night bonus this past August, pushed Borralho’s overall winning streak to 16 fights, which includes a 7-0 start in the UFC.

The idea of fighting Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) excites Borralho more than anything.

“A lot of respect for Izzy, you know. I want to fight the best in the world, and I think he’s a legend, one of the best in the world. I want to test myself against him,” Borralho said.

Adesanya, 35, who ruled the middleweight division for nearly three years, has hit a rough patch in his career, having lost three of his past four bouts. That includes a one-sided decision against Sean Strickland and most recently a submission loss to champion Dricus Du Plessis.

While some might view Adesanya on the decline, Borralho would not take the opportunity for granted.

“He was a great champion. He always has good points,” Borralho said. “I don’t know if he’s vulnerable or anything like that. I don’t have anything with it. If we fought, I’m going with a hundred percent power. I’m going with a hundred percent trying to finish him, and I will do it.”

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Israel Adesanya: Khalil Rountree’s ‘stock goes up after’ UFC 307 loss to Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya gives his opinion on Alex Pereira’s title defense against Khalil Rountree a UFC 307.

Give credit where credit is due. Former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] paid his respect to both [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] and [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] following their recent clash.

This past Saturday, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) gave fans one of the best championship fights of the year, going toe to toe for almost 20 minutes in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City.

Although the result was maybe expected, many were taken away by Rountree’s toughness and competitiveness, while also admiring Pereira’s comeback ability and skill. Adesanya was one of them.

“He lasted longer than I thought he would,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “At least someone else took him to the fourth round. It shows how good Khalil is. Again he’s (Pereira) got some hard fights in front of him, but he is that guy right now, he’s on.

“Honestly, I called it, but I thought it was going to be earlier. Shout out to Khalil because fighting with a broken nose and the intelligence not to blow his nose in the fight, respect. His stock goes up after this. What a moment.”

With the victory, Pereira is now on a five-fight winning streak since moving up to 205 pounds and has three title defenses. He won the light heavyweight title by stopping former champ Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 last November, and went on to pick up his first title defense in April at UFC 300 by finishing Jamahal Hill. “Poatan” then returned on short notice at UFC 303 in June, where he defeated Prochazka in a rematch.

On the other hand, Rountree saw his five-fight winning streak come to an end. This was his first UFC title opportunity in the eight years he’s been in the promotion.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Alex Pereira says Artem Vakhitov, kickboxing rivals would struggle in UFC: ‘They are not me. They are not Israel Adesanya’

Alex Pereira doubts Artem Vakhitov can recreate their kickboxing history in the UFC like he did with Israel Adesanya.

SALT LAKE CITY – [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] doubts [autotag]Artem Vakhitov[/autotag] can recreate their kickboxing history in the UFC like he did with [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag].

Vakhitov (2-1) will look to earn a UFC contract Tuesday when he meets Islem Masraf (3-0) at Dana White’s Contender Series 75 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Vakhitov and Pereira shared the Glory Kickboxing ring twice in back-to-back fights. Pereria won their first fight at Glory 77 in January 2021 by split decision, and Vakhitov was able to avenge that loss eight months later at Glory 78 by majority decision.

When Pereira made his way to the UFC, he came in with two kickboxing wins over then UFC middleweight champion Adesanya. He was able to dethrone him by knockout to become champion at UFC 281, but Adesanya won the rematch with a knockout of his own at UFC 287.

Pereira doesn’t think Vakhitov can replicate the same storyline that he and Adesanya shared.

”I stopped following kickboxing, so I kind of don’t know how he’s doing,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 307 media day. “I don’t know what his potential (is), but I think fighting me in the UFC at this point could be hard.

“People get mistaken. Sometimes they think that it’s just easy to make a story like I did with Israel Adesanya – guys that beat me on a fight long ago and they think that they just come here and make the same story. Bro, they are not me. They are not Israel Adesanya.”

Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) defends his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree (14-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Kevin Holland says Israel Adesanya fight not exciting: ‘Now he’s just some guy who can’t stop running backwards’

Fighting Israel Adesanya would not excite Kevin Holland.

Fighting [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] would not excite [autotag]Kevin Holland[/autotag].

Holland (26-11 MMA, 13-8 UFC) takes on Roman Dolidze (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) main card opener at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Holland has always shown his willingness to fight anyone, and even defended the UFC against fighters who complain about pay. He argued that activity is what gets you paid as he enters his third fight of 2024, and 11th in the past three years.

With Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) no longer in the current middleweight title picture, Holland was asked about a potential matchup with “The Stylebender,” but he surprisingly dismissed it.

“Not really,” Holland told ESPN. “It would have been exciting beating him as the champ. Now he’s just some guy who can’t stop running backwards and getting clipped and throwing a lot of leg kicks. At the end of the day, guys fighting like that, they play the chess match where they’re just doing (leg kicks) all night. It’s like, that’s boring.

“I’d rather fight Paulo Costa than fight Izzy because at least Paulo’s going to actually come out there and fight, when he actually wants to fight. Izzy is going to go out there and (throw leg kicks) all night, and I ain’t got time for that. I mean, if he wants to scrap, we can scrap. It doesn’t matter who it is. We can figure out something.”

Adesanya is coming off back-to-back title losses Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. He still has the desire to compete – even if it doesn’t involve the title.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Israel Adesanya ‘definitely’ wants eventual rematch vs. Sean Strickland: ‘That fight was not me’

Israel Adesanya wants to eventually get a rematch with Sean Strickland regardless of UFC championship status.

Title on the line or not, [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] wants to set the record straight with [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) lost his middleweight belt in shocking fashion to Strickland back in 2023, and hasn’t been able to rematch him since. When the former champ got the opportunity to win his title back in August, it came against Dricus Du Plessis, as he had taken the belt from Strickland months prior.

Well, looking to continue fighting after his failed attempt to recapture the title, Adesanya wants to get his hands on Strickland before it’s all said and done.

“Strickland, definitely. That fight was not me,” Adesanya said on the JRE MMA Show. “Again, I don’t make excuses … (Dave Chappelle) said something like, ‘When it’s your time, you have to know and be humble enough when it’s someone else’s.’ That was just his week, and his, and everything. So it’s his time, let him have it, but I definitely know what I can do.

“I took his best shots, and I just know I can take this guy. I know what I can do. Not similar to the Pereira one where I was winning, but this one, I definitely know what I can do with this guy.”

Adesanya is convinced that his best version beats Strickland’s best version. He just didn’t show up when they met in 2023.

As of now, Strickland has yet to be officially booked for a fight, but it’s expected that he rematches Du Plessis next. Depending on the result, the potential rematch with Strickland could be very close or far away for Adesanya.

“We’ll see what happens with him and DDP,” Adesanya said. “He could win, beat him, it was close (the first time). That was a rough fight. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens in that fight. Look, I kind of like the feeling of not knowing because sometimes people ask, ‘Who are you going to fight next? When are you going to fight next?’ I don’t know. I’m just chilling. I’m just going to keep training.”

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Israel Adesanya thinks ‘stubborn’ UFC champ Dricus Du Plessis beats Sean Strickland again

Israel Adesanya sees UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis’ relentlessness helping him prevail against Sean Strickland.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] sees UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]’ relentlessness helping him prevail against [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is expected to defend his title against Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) next – the man he dethroned by split decision at UFC 297 to claim the belt. Du Plessis notched his first title defense when he submitted Adesanya in the fourth round at UFC 305. Adesanya, who is coming off back-to-back title losses to Strickland and Du Plessis, shed light on how he thinks a rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland would go.

“They already fought before. I fought both of them,” Adesanya said on “The Adam Carolla Show” “I think Du Plessis might get it done again. He’s just so weird. The way he fights is awkward. He’s stubborn. No matter how tired he gets, he’ll still just throw, just to stop you in your tracks or stop you from doing what you’re doing. And he’ll just throw and hope. It wouldn’t really land, but it would stop what you’re trying to progress.”

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) provided an update on his future. He plans on competing soon and will wait to see how the middleweight division shakes out in the next couple of months.

In his first middleweight title reign, Adesanya notched five title defenses until he ran into Alex Pereira at UFC 281. He was able to reclaim his belt with a knockout of Pereira at UFC 287 before dropping two straight to Strickland and Du Plessis.

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