"Found a new spark” - Israel Adesanya’s teammate shares exciting preview of his return against Nassourdine Imavov

Israel Adesanya will take on middleweight prospect Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1. It will be Adesanya's first non-title fight since 2019, having only made his promotional debut in 2018. Having suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career, the former champion will be eager to show fans that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

His decision to accept a fight against Imavov shows that 'The Last Stylebender' is not interested in 'legacy' matchups at this point in his career. Instead, Adesanya has hopes of putting together another memorable run to the title.

Ahead of his return to action in 2025, his teammate, Navajo Stirling, has shared an exciting preview of what Adesanya could deliver. In a recent interview with Home of Fight, he said:

"[He's] really intense. He definitely has found a new spark... I knew, he was training so much, I was like, 'Surely this guy's got a fight.' And then I saw him get matched up. Yeah, he's looking really sharp from when I last left. He's putting in the work, I'm such a fan of him and so happy to see him fight again. Imavov is good, he's got that young fire as well."

Check out Navajo Stirling's comments on Israel Adesanya below (7:30):

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Israel Adesanya discusses fight with Nassourdine Imavov

Israel Adesanya will headline UFC Saudi Arabia alongside Nassourdine Imavov in what could provide fans with a thrilling striking battle. With Adesanya having fought the best of the best since laying claim to the middleweight title in 2019, there was some surprise when his clash against Imavov was announced.

Given the Russian-born French fighter's No. 5 ranking there were assumptions that he would be slightly outside the perimeter of what Adesanya was after. But following the bout's announcement, 'The Last Stylebender' opened up on how the fight came to fruition during an interview on his YouTube channel.

A snippet of the interview was uploaded to X by @ChampRDS, where he said:

"They just offered it to me, and I was like, 'Yeah, sure.' That was the only name that got offered. But Caio Borralho, he was looking for a fight as well. Yeah, if they offered him, I would have been like, 'Yeah, sweet.' But then he responded when I posted or announced the fight."

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below: