Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will be making first non-title fight in five years against a French fighter, Sports247 reports.
The New-Zealnad Nigeria is touted to make a return to the Octagon in February against France’s Nassourdine Imavov.
The bout is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia as part of the first ever UFC fights take place in the new destination to top sporting events .
According to Caio Barralho, a Brazilian UFC middleweight fighter, opted out of discussions for a possible faceoff but Adesanya for settle for Imavov .
Adesanya will be returning to the octagon for the first time since August 2024 following a series of losses in the year which included the infamous submission by Du Plesis in UFC 350
The bout, will be his first non-title fight since February 2019 when he defeated Anderson Silva as the self styled Last Sytle-bender will be looking forward to a redemption of a sort in the game with a victory over Imanov.
The two time world champions in the middleweight category have failed twice in his attempt to win the title three times and a victory against french rookie might move closer to becoming a contender for the title once again.
Despite his late setbacks, Adesanya is still one of the greats of the game with an impressive 16 Knock Outs and 8 wins with just 4 losses.
Nassourdine Imavov will be coming into the fight on a win-steak of three bouts which includes a knock out win against Jared Connonier as he takes UFC record 15 wins, 4 losses in 20 matches as one ended in a no contest .
