French contender Nassourdine Imavov produced the biggest performance of his career to knock out former champion Israel Adesanya and move one step closer to a shot at the undisputed UFC middleweight title. Imavov, whose fighting nickname is "The Sniper," stood and traded with former kickboxing champion and two-time UFC middleweight champ Adesanya through the first round of their main event clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then finished him in stunning fashion early in the second. More news: UFC Saudi Arabia: Michael 'Venom' Page Outclasses Shara Magomedov in Riyadh Adesanya had just received an accidental poke to the eye by Imavov, but told referee Marc Goddard that he was OK to continue.
And, just a matter of seconds later, Imavov made the breakthrough. Imavov caught an Adesanya kick, then pressed forward looking to apply pressure to the former champion. Then a huge overhand right landed flush and dropped Adesanya to the canvas.
Imavov then swarmed Adesanya on the mat and landed a salvo of strikes to the grounded fighter to force Goddard to step in and wave off the fight just 30 seconds into the round. A post shared by instagram It gave Imavov the 16th win of his MMA career, and took his current win streak to four. Adesanya, meanwhile, fell to his third successive defeat, following prior losses to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis.
"I feel so good," he told UFC analyst Paul Felder after his victory. "I said it all week long, that I was in perfect shape. I proved it tonight.
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