Israel Adesanya's UFC return confirmed

New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya will return to the octagon at the start of February to face Nassourdine Imavov in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Adesanya, 35, will be out to avoid three successive losses for the first time in his career, after dropping his last two fights against Sean Strickland (September 2023) and Dricus du Plessis (August 2024).

In fact, considering his loss to Alex Pereira in 2022, Adesanya has been defeated in three of his last four fights.

The bout, which will be part of UFC Fight Night 250 staged at Riyadh’s ANB Arena, will be Adesanya’s first non-title fight since 2019, when he defeated Anderson Silva by unanimous decision in Melbourne.

In that time, Adesanya has featured in 12 consecutive fights with a title on the line.

Born in Russia but fighting under the French flag, 28-year-old Imavov boasts a 15-win, four-loss and one no-contest record in the UFC. He will enter the octagon against Adesanya on a three-fight winning streak.

Imavov has never fought for a world title, but victory over Adesanya could thrust him into contention. Adesanya is currently the UFC’s second-ranked heavyweight, while Imavov is fifth.

Victory for Adesanya would hold him in good stead to contend for the UFC’s middleweight title, still held by du Plessis. Strickland still splits Adesanya and du Plessis as the top-ranked contender.

Strickland will challenge du Plessis for the middleweight title on February 9 at UFC 312 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.

Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev and Kiwi-born Australian fighter Robert Whittaker round out the top five contenders, ranked third and fourth respectively.

Elsewhere on the fight card, middleweight fighters Shara Magomedov (15-0) will face Michael “Venom” Page (22-3) as the co-main event.

The Fight Night event will mark just the second time the UFC has been to Saudi Arabia, with the first in June 2024, headlined by Whittaker’s first-round knockout win over Ikram Aliskerov.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission