UFC middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov has no doubt that a first championship opportunity should be in his immediate future following Saturday's result.
Imavov emerged as the biggest winner from the MMA leader's second visit to Saudi Arabia. The Frenchman headlined the UFC Fight Night card opposite his most prominent opponent to date, former two-time champion Israel Adesanya.
While "The Last Stylebender" started well in his pursuit of a first win since 2023 and a rebound result after consecutive losses, Imavov turned the tables with one clean right hand seconds into round two. The shot, which badly wobbled Adesanya, ultimately set up the TKO finish.
With the win, "The Sniper" has now won four straight since a no contest against Chris Curtis. He still has five names inside the middleweight top 10 to add to his record's win column, but the Frenchman believes he's now 'cleaned out' the weight class.
Imavov shared that claim during his post-fight press conference in Riyadh, during which he also made it clear what he's expecting to come as a result of Saturday's main event knockout.
I cleaned (out) the weight class in one year," Imavov said. "Four fights, two wins against top-10 competition, two (finishes) against top-five competition. Next is the belt.
In addition to Adesanya, Imavov has defeated Brendan Allen, Jared Cannonier, and Roman Dolidze in recent times.
He'll now pay close attention to next weekend's UFC 312 headliner between middleweight kingpin Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland. While he intends to face the winner, "The Sniper" could have stiff competition for the next shot given the way Khamzat Chimaev dispatched Robert Whittaker last October.