Nassourdine Imavov isn\u2019t upset at Dana White and the UFC brass for making top of the middleweight division a four-man grand prix situation.<\/p>\n
It all kicks off with Imavov facing Caio Borralho in the main event of UFC Paris this Saturday, with the winner having a chance to face new champion Khamzat Chimaev. While a lot of the MMA community wasn\u2019t overly thrilled with Chimaev\u2019s performance, Imavov found it quite impressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was expecting a victory for Khamzat, but I wasn\u2019t expecting [that kind of victory] dominating for five rounds like he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand when you\u2019re not as well-versed in MMA, you don\u2019t know MMA that well, [that] can be a boring fight because you don\u2019t necessarily understand the techniques that are happening. For me, as a practitioner, as a champion in the sport, I see the technical aspect of it and keeping a champion like a DDP for five rounds on the ground, it\u2019s something very technical to be made, and I was very impressed with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imavov is on an impressive win streak, including a knockout win over Israel Adesanya in his most recent bout at UFC Saudi Arabia in February. Many believed he deserved a title shot more than Chimaev did, but Imavov understood why the promotion went the way they did.<\/p>\n
When the bout between Imavov and Borralho was booked, it was assumed it would be a title eliminator, but Dana White said that wasn\u2019t necessarily the case with the addition of Reinier de Ridder vs. Anthony Hernandez at UFC Vancouver. The best performance will win out to get a title shot.<\/p>\n
Imavov was asked if he was disappointed in the UFC CEO making that announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m not disappointed,\u201d Imavov said. \u201cI know what I\u2019m worth, and after this fight, I\u2019m going to be the No. 1 contender for the belt, and I know that what I\u2019ve done in the weight class, no one else has done it. Like if you talk about those three contenders, they didn\u2019t do what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imavov is going to look to shut Borralho down, and make him pay for a lot of the \u201cducking\u201d comments he\u2019s made along the way. Borralho is 7-0 inside the octagon and looks to get himself a championship opportunity.<\/p>\n
When asked about Borralho\u2019s comments what he was ducking him, Imavov shrugged it off as Borralho just being a big fan of his.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you don\u2019t want to be naive, you don\u2019t want to trust liars,\u201d Imavov explained. \u201cHe\u2019s been lying many times before. I didn\u2019t even know him before he started to call me out. I wasn\u2019t watching his fights.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it was just a fan following me on Instagram. I don\u2019t need that kind of fan. I mean, if he wants to stop following me on social media, it\u2019s going to be good [for] me. Don\u2019t need that.<\/p>\n
The crowd in Paris will be electric, as it usually is, and now Imavov gets to compete in the main event at Accor Arena \u2013 which is more to him than just a local guy fighting in front of a local crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be the third time I fight in Paris,\u201d Imavov said. \u201cI love fighting in Paris in front of my crowd. Great energy. It\u2019s going to be as much of a responsibility as a privilege to be fighting in front of my crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a doubt, I\u2019m going to finish him and I\u2019m always, during the fight, going to be looking for the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imavov is confident a win on Saturday will get him his shot at Chimaev and the UFC middleweight title \u2013 regardless of the result of the UFC Vancouver main event in October.<\/p>\n
The question is, if Imavov does get the shot, why is he the guy to hand Chimaev his first loss?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just different [from] any other guys in the weight class,\u201d Imavov said. \u201cRight now I\u2019m focusing on this fight, but after this fight, we\u2019re going to concentrate on the [Khamzat] and prepare everything well. [But] I\u2019m just different from anyone in the weight class.\u201d<\/p>\n