The UFC makes its second appearance in Louisville today with an exciting card and intriguing main event. A clash of top middleweights in Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov headlines the card that also features the returns of Dom Reyes and Raul Rosas.
Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov Preview
Jared Cannonier was forced out of his last scheduled bout against Roman Dolidze when he tore his MCL while training. The “Killa Gorilla” holds a 4-1 record in his last five with his only loss coming against then-champion Israel Adesanya. After the loss, he fought to a close decision win over former champion Sean Strickland before butchering Marvin Vettori for 25 minutes last June. It’s been nearly a year since we’ve seen Cannonier in the cage but the 40-year-old comes out ready to take on another hungry challenger.
Nassourdine Imavov took on the opponent that Cannonier was scheduled to face, Roman Dolidze. The French fighter put on a high-class striking and wrestling display to grab the win over five rounds. Imavov has had an up-and-down run in the UFC up to this point. After stringing together three wins Imavov was beaten handily by a late-notice Sean Strickland then subsequently clashed heads with Chris Curtis in a No-Contest. Even in his last fight, he was deducted a point and only won a majority decision. Imavov looks to break through into the top 5 of the division with a big win over Cannonier in Louisville.
Fight Recap
Both fighters came out swinging with Cannonier loading up on some big shots but having trouble landing clean. Imavov popped off some stiff jabs that shot back the head of Cannonier who landed an early takedown. Imavov returned to his feet and the men were content with exchanging strikes at range. A nice elbow was landed by Imavov who was having trouble landing knees. Some nice looping shots caught Cannonier before Imavov caught the leg of Cannonier and tripped him down. The round ended in a clinch against the cage with Cannonier having the better of the position.
Hard punches were exchanged by both men to start the second round with Imavov’s jab popping Cannonier and Cannonier’s straight right landing well. A short clinch ended with Imavov landing a big shot on the break with Cannonier returning with his own hard jabs. Cannonier’s gameplan clearly involved the clinch against the cage and he used that for most of the round. Nassourdine Imavov broke the clinch and began stalking Cannonier while throwing some big shots. As Imavov settled in Cannonier took the fight back to the clinch.
“Killa Gorilla” landed a cracking 1-2 to start Round 3. Nassourdine Imavov found his range and started countering well and even initiated the grappling with a successful takedown. After a long clinch, both men came out firing and both connected clean on each other in the pocket. Most of the exchanges in this round were close with lower volume. Cannonier was using the clinch against the cage for much of this round but it was Imavov who landed the cleaner, harder punches.
Championship Rounds
Cannonier kicked off the round with a big spinning back elbow with Imavov grabbing him and holding him against the cage. Imavov landed a massive right hand that wobbled Cannonier around the cage with Imavov stalking. He chased Cannonier down and started wailing punches at the injured Cannonier. Referee Jason Herzog made the call to stop the fight with Cannonier still up on his feet, but hurt. This drew negative reactions from Cannonier, the commentary team, and the fans as Imavov successfully finished Jared Cannonier in Round 4.
The TKO stoppage came at 1:34 of Round 4 for Nassourdine Imavov who has just one loss in his last seven.
UFC Fighters React to the Controversial Stoppage in Nassourdine Imavov’s Win Over Jared Cannonier
What did you think about the stoppage in Nassourdine Imavov’s win over Jared Cannonier? Did you agree or were you upset? Let us know in the comments below!
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