Nassourdine Imavov expects ‘very focused and hungry’ Israel Adesanya at UFC Fight Night 250

Nassourdine Imavov doesn’t think Israel Adesanya has lost a step ahead of UFC Fight Night 250.

Imavov (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) takes on former middleweight champion Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in Saturday’s main event (ESPN+) at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Adesanya will look to rebound from the first losing skid of his career after back-to-back title-fight setbacks to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. Imavov thought Adesanya looked good against Du Plessis before getting submitted in Round 4 at UFC 305.

“I don’t think he’s getting older,” Imavov said through an interpreter during Wednesday’s media day. “If you look at his fight against DDP, he was doing very well. In my opinion, he was winning the fight before the submission. So, I think he’s going to come very focused, very hungry.

“Even though I don’t focus too much on him, I focus more on myself, what I’m going to do, the shape I’m going to be in the fight, and I hope he’s going to be in the best shape so I can beat the best Israel Adesanya.”

Robert Whittaker, who recently spent time training with Adesanya, said Imavov’s best path to victory is on the ground hunting for a rear-naked choke. When asked about Whittaker’s breakdown, Imavov laughed but didn’t disagree.

“Very good strategy,” Imavov said. “Now, I have my own one that I’ve worked on for months with my team, so on the day of the fight I’m going to apply my own strategy – even though Robert’s strategy could work very well.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Saudi Arabia.