UFC Saudi Arabia Card Odds And Predictions: Adesanya Vs. Imavov

The UFC is in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card. The event takes place at and Arena in Riyadh. In the headlining contest, former UFC champion Israel Adesanya faces Nassourdine Imavov. Meanwhile, in the co-main event of the UFC Saudi Arabia card, Michael “Venom” Page moves up to 185 pounds to face the undefeated Shara “Bullet” Magomedov.

UFC Saudi Arabia begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, following prelims at 9 a.m. ET on the same streaming service.

Below, we take a deep dive into the Adesanya vs. Imavov fight.

UFC Saudi Arabia: Israel Adesanya Career

Israel Adesanya (24-4) was a perfect 11-0 when he joined the UFC in 2018. The then 28-year-old had held titles with Hex Fight Series and AFC before joining the UFC. He had also fought twice for the Glory Kickboxing Middleweight crown before focusing on MMA.

Adesanya’s first fight was a “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning knockout of Rob Wilkinson in a bloody battle. After the win, Adesanya delivered a memorable post-fight interview with UFC commentator Jon Anik.

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Decision wins over Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares put Adesanya in the top 10 in the division. A first-round TKO over Derek Brunson then launched him to No. 6. A decision over a fading former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva followed.

That fight against Silva, which took place at UFC 234 in February 2019, was the last time Adesanya would compete in a non-title fight with the UFC.

In his next outing, Adesanya captured the interim UFC middleweight crown with a gut-check decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. Adesanya unified the titles in October 2019 with a knockout win over Robert Whittaker.

Title defense wins over Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa followed. Adesanya, looking to become a double UFC champ, moved to light heavyweight for his next fight against then UFC 205-pound titleholder Jan Blachowicz. Blachowicz handed Adesanya his first defeat, beating him by decision at UFC 259.

The middleweight champ bounced back from that setback with title defenses against Vettori, Whittaker. and Jared Cannonier.

A grudge match was next on Adesanya’s schedule as he faced the man who had defeated him twice under the Glory Banner, Alex Pereira, at UFC 281. Adesanya entered the fifth and final round of that contest ahead on the scorecards, only to get knocked out at 2:01 of that round.

Adesanya got revenge in April 2023 at UFC 287 when he knocked out Pereira in the second round.

In his next outing, at UFC 293, Adesanya dropped the belt to Strickland.

Adesanya is currently riding a two-fight losing skid after a UFC 305 submission loss to Dricus du Plessis in a title fight.

Adesanya seems to be relaxed and lose heading into Saturday’s fight card and with this not being a UFC title fight, the former champ feels less pressure ahead of this contest.

UFC Saudi Arabia: Nassourdine Imavov Career

Nassourdine Imavov (15-4-0-1) was 8-2 when he first fought for the UFC. That bout came in October 2020, and he won a decision over Jordan Williams. Imavov went 3-1 in his next four UFC outings. In January 2023, Imavov was booked to face Kelvin Gastelum, but that fight fell apart when Gastelum withdrew. Sean Strickland stepped in on short notice to keep the fight, which was to be the main event, on the card. The only stipulation was that the meeting was to take place at light heavyweight. Strickland picked up a unanimous decision win in that scrap.

Imavov has fought four times since then. In June 2023 he faced Strickland’s teammate Chris Curtis at UFC 289, but that fight ended in a no contest when a clash of heads left Curtis unable to continue. Then, in February of this year, Imavov defeated Roman Dolidze by majority decision in a main event scrap on a UFC Fight Night card.

In June 2024, the 29-year-old scored a TKO win over former UFC middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier in the main event of a June Fight Night card in Louisville.

Imavov took the best that Jared Cannonier had to offer in the first three rounds of their UFC Louisville main event and was in the process of turning the tables on the former UFC middleweight title challenger when referee Jason Herzog waved off the fight in the fourth stanza and awarded the victory to Imavov.

Cannonier's game plan was a good one, but his approach of using leg kicks to slow his opponent and pick up control time against the cage didn't work. Yes, the leg kicks scored for Cannonier, but they didn't deter Imavov, who was mounting a comeback after falling behind 29-29 on two scorecards heading into the fourth round.

Before the fight was waved off, Imavov had honed in on Cannonier's range and timing. He landed 60 percent of his significant strikes in the second round, 65 percent in the third, and 73 percent in the fourth before Herzog stopped the fight.

After his win, Imavov called for a matchup against former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. He did not get his wish. Instead, Imavov faced Brendan Allen in the co-main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Paris. Imavov won that contest via unanimous decision.

UFC Saudi Arabia Odds: Israel Adesanya Vs. Nassourdine Imavov

When the betting odds were announced for the UFC Saudi Arabia main event, Adesanya was a -200 favorite over the +170 Imavov. Today, Adesanya remains the betting favorite at -155, while Imavov is listed at +135.

Adesanya is the No. 2 ranked UFC middleweight while Imavov checks in at No. 5.

UFC Saudi Arabia Picks And Predictions: Israel Adesanya Vs. Nassourdine Imavov

With two straight losses, it’s fair to ask if the 35-year-old Adesanya has begun his downward slide. I don’t believe that to be the case, especially when it comes to his striking. If Adesanya can keep the fight standing, this one is his to lose. However, if Imavov decided to make it a wrestling match, things could get interesting. The pick is for Adesanya to win via decision.

Here is the betting breakdown, prediction and pick for the UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event.

We wil have more on the UFC Saudi Arabia fight card as the UFC Fight Night event approaches.