Nassourdine Imavov outlasted Caio Borralho in the main event of UFC Fight Night in France, earning a unanimous decision and consolidating his claim as a potential title challenger to middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Imavov, fighting in front of his home crowd at Accor Arena in Paris, secured a fifth straight UFC victory, with the three judges delivering a clear win for the 84kg (185-pound) fighter: 50-45, 49-46, 49-46.
The Saturday night bout was one-sided, with Imavov (20-4 MMA) controlling the distance for the fight’s duration with clean boxing and pressure volume, not allowing Borralho (17-2 MMA) to find openings, as he entered the contest with an imposing 62 percent of his wins by either KO/TKO or submission.
Imanov, who laid claim to the UFC middleweight division’s No 2 ranking, was hard on himself about not finishing Borralho as he had planned.
Despite not earning a stoppage victory, he had one message for Chimaev (15-0 MMA).
“I am next,” Imavov said as the crowd erupted during his post-fight speech. “[Borralho] was unbeaten for 10 years. I just beat him, and beat him with style as well. I need to be the next one [to fight for the UFC middleweight title].”
The loss for the No 7-ranked Borralho marked his first inside the UFC. After the fight, he acknowledged Imavov as one of the toughest opponents of his career.
“Thank you, Nassourdine, for the respect,” Borralho said. “Thank you so much… I think Nassourdine was the better man today. He was very fast, as I was expecting. He did very good in the fight. I couldn’t really adapt [my strategy] that much. I wanted to make this fight entertaining for the fans and the UFC. So, I tried to strike with one of the best strikers in the world, and that’s what you guys saw: a great war.”
In the co-headline fight, lightweight Benoit Saint Denis secured a rear-naked choke over Mauricio Ruffy at 2:56 of the second round.
Saint Denis (15-3 MMA) got a large lift from the hometown crowd and became the first fighter to submit Ruffy (12-2 MMA) in his career.
Ruffy’s loss to Saint Denis snapped a seven-fight winning streak dating back to November 2019.
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