Andreas Hale of ESPN
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will have his first non-title fight since 2019 when he faces him Nassourdine Imawow in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the ANB Arena in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, on February 1.
Adesanya (24-4) is losing in a row for the first time in his MMA career. “The Last Stylebender” shockingly lost his middleweight title Sean Strickland in September 2023 and failed to regain the 185-pound title when submitted by the current champion Dricus du Plessis in August.
The 35-year-old Adesanya will try to return to winning ways against the fifth-ranked middleweight in the UFC rankings and regain his position as one of the best UFC middleweights of all time.
Fighting out of Paris, Imavov (15-4) has won his next three fights Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier AND Brendan Allen. A victory for the 29-year-old Imavov will earn him a middleweight title shot, where Du Plessis will face Strickland at UFC 312 on February 9.
The co-main event will be a paradise for undefeated strikers Gray Magomedov (15-0) will face a highly touted kickboxer Michael’s “Venom” website. (22-3) in a middleweight bout.
Magomedov (30) lands a stunning double-swivel backfist knockout Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308 in October. Fighting out of Dagestan, Russia, “Shara Bullet” is the UFC’s fourteenth middleweight fighter.
Fighting out of London, Page will move up from the welterweight division and cut his teeth in the middleweight division. Page, 37, withdrew his unanimous decision Ian Machado Garry in June. The decorated striker will be looking to make a name for himself in the 185-pound world, but he’ll have his hands full against another striker who has 12 knockout victories in his career.
