After climbing to the top of the sport, Israel Adesanya heads into Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event at risk of losing four of five fights. Adesanya faces Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of the card, which takes place from anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Adesanya won the interim middleweight championship in a war with Kelvin Gastelum in April 2019 before winning the undisputed title with a knockout of Robert Whittaker in October 2019. He would go on to make five successful title defenses, only broken up by a loss when he moved up to light heavyweight to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the 205-pound title, while establishing himself as one of the best fighters in UFC history.
Adesanya’s first title reign ended in November 2022 when he was knocked out by Alex Pereira. After winning the rematch, Adesanya again lost the title, this time to Sean Strickland before losing a bid to regain the title from current champion Dricus Du Plessis this past August.
After entering the UFC as a middleweight and going 4-1 in the Octagon, Imavov moved to light heavyweight where he dropped a decision to Strickland. He has since returned to middleweight, rattling off three consecutive victories. A win over Adesanya would be the biggest of Imavov’s career and potentially put him in position to challenge for the title before the end of 2025.
CBS Sports will be with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the event below. The main card begins at noon ET on ESPN+ following preliminary bouts at 9 a.m. ET.
UFC Fight Night card, results
- Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov, middleweights
- Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michael “Venom” Page, middleweights
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, heavyweights
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira, bantamweights
- Mike Davis vs. Fares Ziam, lightweights
Read the full article here
