Nassourdine Imavov issues social media statement as he becomes third fighter to finish Israel Adesanya after Alex Pereira and Dricus du Plessis

Nassourdine Imavov has put forth a statement after his incredible victory over Israel Adesanya. The win earned Imavov a spot in a rare club of elite fighters, who've scored stoppage wins over combat sports megastar Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya has competed in the sports of boxing, kickboxing, and MMA. Despite having faced defeat in each sport, he garnered a reputation for being legendarily durable. His lone professional boxing loss was a points defeat. 'Izzy' never suffered a stoppage defeat in that sport.

In kickboxing, four of his five losses came on the judges' scorecards. His lone loss via finish/stoppage (KO/TKO), in kickboxing, came in his rematch against Alex Pereira. 'Poatan' stopped Adesanya via third-round KO in their kickboxing rematch in 2017.

Moreover, in MMA, Adesanya has suffered five defeats, of which three were via finish/stoppage (KO/TKO or submission). First, in March 2021, then-UFC middleweight champion Adesanya suffered a unanimous decision loss against then-UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.

'The Last Stylebender's' other MMA losses transpired in the UFC middleweight division. Adesanya's first loss at 185 pounds was a fifth-round TKO defeat against Alex Pereira in Nov. 2022, wherein he lost the UFC middleweight title. The Nigeria-born Kiwi reclaimed the UFC title by knocking Pereira out in April 2023.

However, Adesanya lost the title to Sean Strickland via unanimous decision in Sept. 2023. 'Izzy' then faced current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in Aug. 2024 and lost via fourth-round submission.

Following that, in his most recent fight, Adesanya suffered a second-round TKO loss against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1, 2025.

During a subsequent backstage conversation, Nassourdine Imavov and Israel Adesanya appeared to express their respect for one another. Adesanya asserted:

"Class act. Good fighter. Respect, mate. Thank you."

The aforementioned video, posted on X by Chamatkar Sandhu, gained considerable attention among MMA fans. Many netizens hailed the respect displayed by 'The Last Stylebender' and 'The Sniper' after their thrilling showdown.

Also, Nassourdine Imavov chimed in on it. Responding to the video of himself with Adesanya on X, the Dagestan-born French combatant wrote:

"Nothing but respect! Proud to have shared the octagon with such a legend @stylebender"

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Nassourdine Imavov discusses potential UFC title shot

Jan Blachowicz, Alex Pereira, Sean Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, and Nassourdine Imavov hold wins over the legendary Israel Adesanya in MMA. Only Pereira, du Plessis, and Imavov boast the distinction of having earned finishes against the former two-time UFC middleweight champion.

Additionally, Pereira is the only fighter who's stopped 'Izzy' in two sports.

Incidentally, Imavov is likely to face one of two fellow fighters who beat Adesanya -- namely Dricus du Plessis or Sean Strickland. Reigning UFC middleweight champion du Plessis defends his title in a rematch against Strickland at UFC 312.

The du Plessis-Strickland rematch's winner could defend the middleweight championship against Imavov, albeit Khamzat Chimaev could potentially leapfrog him to a title fight. During his post-fight octagon interview, Imavov called for a title shot, stating:

"I think there is no doubt I'm worth the belt. I mean, four victories in one year -- two top-five, two top-10, two finishes. The record speaks for itself."

Check out Imavov's assessment below (3:48):