The night’s action closes out in the middleweight division, as former title challenger and perennial contender Jared Cannonier faces off with French hopeful Nassourdine Imavov.
Returning for the first time since last June after suffering a knee injury, Cannonier looks to build on his tidy two-fight winning streak and overall 7-2 mark in the 185-pound weight class this weekend. The 40-year-old power hitter owns a win over former champ Sean Strickland and has only lost to top dogs Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya since continuing his venture down in weight, and stands as the most experienced and dangerous foe Imavov has faced to date.
After a frustrating 2023 where he lost a short notice pairing to Strickland and his fight with Chris Curtis was halted due to an accidental clash of heads, Imavov got things moving in the right direction again in February, posting a majority decision win over Roman Dolidze. It was a frantic, emotional performance from the 29-year-old Paris-based fighter, who was docked a point for an illegal soccer kick and seemed more focused on jawing with Curtis, who was cornering Dolidze, at times, but in the end, Imavov came away with the win and earned this step up in competition on Saturday.
Middleweight is in a state of flux right now, which makes this an ideal opportunity for either of these men to turn in a statement effort and cement their standing within the division. There are some other big fights in the division on tap this month, so a convincing win before things really get rolling would go a long way for both Cannonier and Imavov.
Other Main Card Contests