Adesanya vs Imavov Becomes UFC Main Event in Saudi Arabia in February 2025

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – The world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), announced the fight between Israel Adesanya vs Nassourdine Imavov as the UFC main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 1, 2025.

According to the MMA Fighting report accessed via the official website, Tuesday (24/12/2024), former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is scheduled to fight in a five-round duel against Imavov. This fight was a chance for Adesanya to rise after suffering two consecutive defeats to Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

This will be the first time since 2018 that Adesanya will not appear as headlines at a UFC pay-per-view event. Even so, this fighter from Nigeria admits that he is not concerned about his status in the upcoming fight.

“I still get paid. There was still a referee, both of us there, and there were spectators. So, it’s not like fighting in APEX or anything like that. No difference. “I think people are overreacting to this, but they’re not me,” said the 35-year-old fighter commenting on the Adesanya vs Imavov match.

The second UFC event to be held in Saudi Arabia will feature a total of 11 fights, although the fight order is still not final. In addition to Adesanya versus Imavov, Michael “Venom” Page will fight at middleweight (185 pounds) against Shara “Bullet” Magomedov, who scored a spectacular knockout in 2024 with a double spinning backfist against Armen Petrosyan.

In the heavyweight class, Sergei Pavlovich will try to break the trend of two defeats against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Meanwhile, Ikram Aliskerov, who lost to Robert Whittaker in 2024, will face specialist grappling André Muniz.

A lightweight fight with explosive potential will pit Terrance McKinney and Damir Hadzovic against each other. In addition, Said Nurmagomedov will face Vinicius Oliveira, Muhammadjon Naimov will face Kaan Ofli, and Bogdan Grad will face Lucas Alexander.

Other duels include Hamdy Abdelwahab against Jamal Pogues, Shamil Gaziev against Thomas Petersen, and Jordan Leavitt facing Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady. That’s the UFC party in Riyadh apart from the Adesanya vs Imavov match.