“The Last Stylebender” is back.
Knockoutalerts has reported that Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov is in the works to headline the second Saudi Arabia Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night scheduled for Feb. 1, 2025 inside The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MMAMania.com can confirm this fight is the plan, but contracts have yet to be signed.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Adesanya (24-4) is coming off the first two-fight losing streak of his legendary mixed martial arts (MMA) career - losing to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and then Dricus Du Plessis earlier this year at UFC 305 (watch highlights).
His upcoming fight will be his first non-title fight in nearly five years - where he fought Anderson Silva at UFC 234.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Imavov (15-4-1) has been on a roll since losing to Strickland back at UFC Vegas 67. Since that loss, he has picked a majority decision over Roman Dolizde, a stoppage of Jared Cannonier, and most recently, a unanimous decision over Brendan Allen at UFC Paris.
With a win over Adesanya, the French fighter sets himself up to challenge for the Middleweight title or at least be in the conversation.
In addition to Adesanya vs. Imavov, here are other announced fights for UFC Saudi Arabia
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues
- Shara Magomedov vs. Michael Page
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
n 2021, former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley departed the UFC to explore the next phase of his career. Four consecutive losses inside the Octagon brought an end to his 16-fight run with the promotion which saw him win the title at 170-pounds and record three title defenses, four if you count the draw in his first fight with Stephen Thompson.
“The Chosen One” then went into boxing where he became the second major name from MMA to face Jake Paul in the ring. After losing a split decision in their first encounter, he was then knocked out in a rematch in December of 2018.
Woodley has not returned to competition since then but he has spoken about substantial offers that he has regularly received to dust off the gloves for one last dance. In a recent interview with Plejmo, the former champion spoke about who he would want to share the Octagon with if he did ever make a return to the UFC.
The 42-year old said that there’s one current star in the promotion in particular who is in and around his weight class that he would like to lock horns with. Woodley went on to voice his opinions regarding the former two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya who he believes is “fake”.
“I never thought about going back, but now when I look at the UFC, there’s not that many stars. Alex Pereira is a beast. He’s a big-ass 205 pounder, so I can’t see myself getting in there with him. Israel Adesanya is a fighter I would definitely fight. I’m not a huge fan of his. I just don’t like people that are just fake. He was conveniently African. Before that he was UK. Before then, he was like an avatar breakdancing guy. The UFC needs some star power in there. There’s a lot of fighters that are kind of in my class of fighting that’s still fighting in the UFC. Some of those fights would be kind of cool.”
Shara Magomedov takes on Michael Page at a UFC Fight Night 250 event Feb. 1 from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+).
UFC CEO Dana White announced the middleweight co-headliner on Saturday.
Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) called out former champion Israel Adesanya after scoring a spectacular double backfist knockout of Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Adesanya dismissed Magomedov, but Page said he’d be happy to swoop in and take the fight – and he got his wish.
In his most recent fight, Page (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was outgrappled in a close decision loss to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303 in June. “MVP” kept active by competing in a grappling match, where he defeated former WEC champion and former UFC interim champion Carlos Condit in the Polaris 30 main event earlier this month.
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
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