After a 13 year hiatus, June 8’s UFC Louisville announces its headliner in Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov, per Alex Behunin. The ranked Middleweight bout matches up #4 ranked Cannonier with #8 ranked Imavov in the “Derby City.”
Cannonier vs. Imavov Preview
Cannonier enters this bout on a 2-fight win streak with decision wins over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland since 2022. Since then, the Middleweight contender withdrew from a fight Roman Dolidze in December 2023. His withdraw from the bout connects to announcement that Cannonier tore his MCL in training. After a few months, UFC Louisville acts as the return of the “Killa Gorilla.” Since debuting in the UFC in 2015, Cannonier stacked up a 10-6 record in the promotion. Cannonier possesses wins over contenders like Derek Brunson and Kelvin Gastelum and former champions like Anderson Silva. The Alaskan native witnessed a wild start to his UFC run that saw him debut at Heavyweight, dropping to 205, and finally landing at his current Middleweight division since 2018.
Opposite Cannonier, Nassourdine Imavov looks to return after a February 2023 decision victory over Dolidze. Debuting in the UFC, Imavov amassed a promotional record of 5-2-1 with wins over Edmen Shahbazyan and Joaquin Buckley. The French fighter has maintained a spot in the UFC Middleweight rankings for over 3 years. Yet, Imavov’s only UFC stumble is a January 2023 loss to Sean Strickland that catapulted the latter into fighting and winning the title that same year. With a new champion in Driscus Du Plessis, a potential win over Cannonier spells a lot for Imavov’s title hopes at 185.
UFC Louisville’s Lineup
The June 8th return to Louisville sparks the first event since 2011’s Sanchez vs. Kampmann. Like the previous event, this UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Imavov is set for the KFC Yum! Center, which plays home to University of Louisville’s athletics. With the main event announced, the announced bouts for UFC Louisville is listed below:
Women’s Strawweight: Eduarda Moura vs. Denis Gomes
Men’s Bantamweight: Taylor Lapilus vs. Cody Stamann
Women’s Strawweight: Puja Tomar vs. Rayanne dos Santos
Men’s Bantamweight: Brad Katona vs. Jesse Butler
Men’s Bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
Lightweight: Thiago Moisés vs. Ľudovít Klein
Welterweight: Carlos Prates vs. Charles Radkte
Welterweight: Punahele Soriano vs. Miguel Baeza
Middleweight: Julian Marquez vs. Zachary Reese
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Main Event Middleweight: Jared Cannonier vs. Nassourdine Imavov
There is no announced co-main for the fight card. Additionally, with pre-sale tickets becoming first available, a potential start time of the card is tentatively placed at 5 PM EST.
What are your first reactions to Cannonier vs. Imavov? Let us know in the comments.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
