Israel Adesanya brutally knocked out by Imavov

Nigerian born Israel Adesanya fell to his third straight loss on Saturday night against Nassourdine Imavov.

The former middleweight champion made his long-awaited return to the contender ranks in Riyadh, facing the rising star Imavov, who had earned notable wins over the likes of Joaquin Buckley and Jared Cannonier on his way to a top-five ranking.

The former middleweight champion was sent tumbling to the canvas by a huge right hand and then finished on the floor by some heavy ground and pound midway through the second round.

Adesanya had put his demons to bed in April 2023 by knocking out Alex Pereira at the fourth time of asking to regain the UFC middleweight strap before Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis handed him back-to-back defeats.

Heading into his fight with Imamov he needed a win to stay at the middleweight top table but Imamov denied him that privilege in devastating fashion.

Adesanya got off to a decent start, landing several heavy leg kicks and making good use of his in-and-out footwork while Imamov plodded forward looking to sit down on his shots.

Towards the back end of the opening stanza, the Frenchman landed a big right hand, which foreshadowed things to come.

On his way down, Imamov narrowly missed with a follow-up left hook before connecting with a booming left uppercut and then a flurry of shots to his grounded foe that left the referee with no choice but to step in.

Adesanya appeared to briefly protest the stoppage but there was no denying things would only have got worse if the official hadn’t waved it off.

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