Nassourdine Imavov is sure of two very important things \u2014 that he is going to fight for the UFC middleweight title next, and he really, really wants to fight Sean Strickland again.<\/p>\n
Imavov watched Strickland finish Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston this past Saturday night. Imavov, who entered the year as the division\u2019s No. 1 contender with an impressive five-fight win streak, heard, and is still hearing pundits say that the winner of that fight between Strickland and Hernandez could leapfrog him in the title conversation.<\/p>\n
The surging contender understands how the UFC works sometimes, but he says that Strickland getting the shot over him wouldn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, of course I heard it a little bit, but you know it means nothing to me because what are you going to do? Strickland is coming off of a loss against [Dricus du Plessis], then he won against Hernandez [who\u2019s] best win was [Roman] Dolidze that I [had] already beaten four fights ago,\u201d Imavov told MMA Fighting. \u201cAnd then this guy will have the privilege to go for the belt after one victory? So for me, it makes no sense. And also before, he already had this chance because when he lost to DDP then he fought against Paulo Costa, and he got another chance for the title and lost again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for me, it doesn\u2019t mean anything because at the end of the day, it remains sport. Of course there is entertainment around that, but it remains sport, and it\u2019s not because the guy had a big mouth that that he can jump everything. But I know that\u2019s the UFC that makes the choice, but what you have to understand is that it remains sports and no one in this division deserves the title more than me.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys, I don\u2019t repeat it enough, but I have a five [fight] win streak against three top-10 opponents, two top-five opponents in less than 18 months. Nobody did that before, so I know that my next fight should be for the title and nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aftermath of Strickland\u2019s win creates a very interesting conundrum for the UFC in the new Paramount era.<\/p>\n
The promotion has faced criticism when it comes to its first two main event title fights of 2026 with many believing there were more deserving fighters than Paddy Pimblett and Diego Lopes in their respective championship bouts. Strickland is a former champ who got a second chance after losing the title to du Plessis, and following a year away, picked up a dominant victory over Hernandez, who entered the bout on an eight-fight win streak.<\/p>\n
Imavov arguably deserved a title shot before new champ Khamzat Chimaev, but the UFC went with Chimaev, who dominated du Plessis at UFC 319 this past August.<\/p>\n
But while the majority of the fan base believes Strickland is the most likely challenger to face Chimaev next, Imavov wants to ask a question \u2014 especially since he sees Chimaev winning that potential fight in dominant fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it happens, we all know the result,\u201d Imavov explained. \u201cWe all know the result, and that\u2019s a mismatch because what will happen is what happened tens of times at the gym: [Chimaev] will bring him down and choke him out. He will choke him out in the first round. So maybe the buildup of this fight will be great with all trash talking and all shit talk, but at the end of the day the fight will be useless because it will end very quickly, and he knows that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFans should determine it. What do you guys prefer? You prefer a big buildup with someone speaking trash and everything, and then there is no fight? Or do you prefer two guys [fighting], very strong, respectful towards each other, but when they enter the cage, you can expect kind of world war? Because it will be huge, him against me. No one wants to lose and I\u2019m not this guy. So the competition will be tough, and I\u2019m here to bring a big challenge<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s my question. What do you guys want? To see someone speaking a lot, or a fight that you will remember for ages? That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what is Imavov\u2019s plan if Strickland does get that title shot against Chimaev?<\/p>\n
\u201dIf it happens, how I will handle it is, like I said to the UFC, I want to fight only for the belt,\u201d Imavov said \u201cI want to fight only for the belt. So that\u2019s my point: The only fight I want, and I think I deserve it, and everyone knows I deserve it, it\u2019s for the belt. So it doesn\u2019t matter. We will see how we will react, but, of course, like I said, I [told] Mick and Hunter, that the only fight I want is for the belt, and that\u2019s all that I\u2019m expecting. Nothing else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve showed everything. I\u2019ve showed that I can be an active fighter like the UFC likes. Like I told you: Five fights [in] 18 months against all top-10 guys. I\u2019ve shown that I can finish, guys. I finished Adesanya, I finished [Jared] Cannonier in the last five fights. And so I showed that the only place where I belong is the title fight, and that\u2019s it. And then, we\u2019ll see according to what they do, but like I said, I don\u2019t change my mind. The only thing I deserve is the belt, and I\u2019m willing to fight for the belt, and that\u2019s it. I\u2019m in the UFC for the belt, for nothing else, no awareness or no money or whatever. I\u2019m here for the belt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Strickland\u2019s victory, Imavov called out Strickland for a matchup, possibly for a vacant title. Perhaps, Imavov sees the writing on the wall as Chimaev continues to tease a move up to the light heavyweight division.<\/p>\n
Imavov and Chimaev know each other pretty well, so if Chimaev does make the move up, Imavov would love to run it back with Strickland after their first meeting ended with a short-notice Strickland victory in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Vegas 67 in January 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Strickland, it was a proposal,\u201d Imavov said. \u201cIt was a proposal because, guys, something you need to understand is [for] two years, I\u2019m asking the UFC for this guy. I don\u2019t want to make excuses or whatever about [the first fight at] light heavyweight, about short notice and everything, because when I left this fight, I was like so disappointed that I said something simple is that I will show people with my fist where I belong. And then you saw all the path between my fight against Sean Strickland, [to right now]. We had Chris Curtis. It was a masterclass until until the fight was stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for the things I know you guys saw Khamzat tweeted that he wants to go up to 205, that\u2019s the first thing. For knowing him, I know he\u2019s heavy, and it will be easier for him to make the weight for the light heavyweight division.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the five guys from the top 10 I beat, so I showed with my fists, and that\u2019s what I wanted because I\u2019m not the kind of guy that makes excuses. Of course there are many elements in this fight that make these fights so strange, and he knows that. It was not the real Nassourdine Imavov inside the cage because a lot of factors, but it doesn\u2019t matter. And the Nassourdine right now is very different, and you guys can agree on that, than the one the one that fight maybe three years before against Sean Strickland. It\u2019s very different and you guys saw it, and right now it would be a totally different atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also why I made this proposal, because it can be a big, big, big, big fight. It can be a big fight in the buildup because I don\u2019t speak so much, but this guy, I really hate him. So it will be fireworks outside of the cage. It will be this guy, if I meet him like for the weigh-in or whatever, we can fight. If I see him in the street, I can fight him. I can brawl him. And in the cage, it will be World War, and he will finish with a lot of blood and unconscious. That\u2019s what I can tell you is that you can\u2019t expect a bigger fight at middleweight right now than this fight, because it will be two strikers going at war and one will finish unconscious. Unconscious. That\u2019s what I\u2019m telling you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imavov\u2019s hatred for Strickland has only grown since their first fight. As much as \u201cThe Sniper\u201d would love to face Chimaev and have the chance to hand him his first ever loss, Imavov says if the UFC offered him the choice between facing Chimaev or facing Strickland, he\u2019d put history aside for a chance at revenge, and put his hands on a man he truly and utterly despises.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, Khamzat is a big challenge, and he knows and we know and the UFC knows that I\u2019m able to go to this fight and I\u2019m willing to go to this fight,\u201d Imavov explained. \u201cWhatever happens, because what I said since a lot of time, it\u2019s [just] not right now, is the only thing I\u2019m focusing on is the belt, not the owner of the belt. And that\u2019s not since Khamzat get this belt that I said that, but I said that way before, because that\u2019s the only thing that matters at the end of the day is the belt around my waist.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the UFC call me tomorrow with the hate I have in my heart, of course it will be Sean Strickland, and then I can fight Khamzat or whatever. But what I have in my heart right now is to erase this defeat, this loss I had a few years ago, and beat this guy because I hate him. I don\u2019t like the way he speaks. I don\u2019t like the way he thinks. I don\u2019t like the way he speaks about my people. So like I said, and even in terms of fighting, like I can tell you guys, both of those fights will be world wars. Both of those fights will be crazy, but the one with Sean. I will leave him dead inside the cage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nassourdine Imavov is sure of two very important things \u2014 that he is going to fight for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,85,787,1396],"class_list":["post-499816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}