Russian-born Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov scored one of the biggest wins of his career in the main event of the UFC’s stop in Louisville, stopping former title challenger Jared Cannonier with a salvo of punches and knees in the fourth round of their middleweight fight.
Unfortunately, the win comes with an asterisk. While Imavov was definitely in control of the action at the stoppage, the stoppage itself was dubious, as Cannonier was neither down nor out when the ref jumped in. The American had only just fired back with a big punch, and still had his hands up — in other words, he was intelligently defending himself.
Cannonier was quick to protest the stoppage, and Imavov acknowledged it wasn’t a perfect finish in his post-fight interview with commentator Paul Felder.
“I was ready to continue,” the victor said. “The referee, that’s his job, so I think he made the right decision, but I was ready to keep going.”
Despite the circumstances, it will go down as a win for the Frenchman, and one that will shake up the middleweight rankings, as Cannonier was ranked three spots ahead of him in the Top 15, at No. 4.
It remains to be seen how the UFC matches Imavov up from here, but he is now one of the top contenders in the middleweight division — neck and neck with the likes of Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev in the race of a crack at champion Dricus Du Plessis.
If he gets his way, it’ll be a fight with the former champ Strickland next.
“I’d like to fight Sean Strickland in Paris [in September],” he said.
He might just get his wish, but it’s too bad his win over Cannonier came under such questionable circumstances. If it was a cleaner victory, he’d be much harder to deny.
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