UFC Paris Fighter to Watch: Nassourdine Imavov
Russian-born, Paris-based middleweight looks for third straight stoppage win when he takes on Joaquin Buckley this weekend
Name: Nassourdine Imavov
Nickname: The Sniper
Record: 11-3 overall; 3-1 UFC
Division: Middleweight
Team: The MMA Factory
Opponent: Joaquin Buckley (15-4 overall, 5-2 UFC)
Imavov is a four-star recruit to me — a fighter with clear skill and upside that might top out just outside of the championship tier in the middleweight division.
The 26-year-old has good size for the division, a solid reach that he uses well, and a diverse striking arsenal that includes kicks to all levels and an abundant use of elbows at all stages. Additionally, Imavov has shown both resilience and keen finishing instincts, recognizing when there are opportunities to press forward to potentially finish the fight before finding the right weapons, the right tools to get that done.
Through four UFC appearances, he’s already shown the ability to battle hard through a gruelling fight with Phil Hawes, to quickly bounce back from defeat, and to be able to compete with fighters currently stationed in the Second 15 in the 185-pound ranks, though his last opponent, Edmen Shahbazyan, was positioned inside the rankings at the time.
It’s been a positive start for Imavov in the UFC, and things should only continue to get better over the next several years.
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There is a laconic fluidity to everything Imavov does inside the Octagon.
There are no big movements, nothing is hurried — he just saunters forward, hands at his waist, stance wide, light on his feet, ready to throw anything and capable of doing damage with whatever he triggers.
It’s an approach that is build on confidence — confidence in your movement and weapons, your ability to make reads, to scramble, and to work out of tough spots if you end up stuck there; confidence that you’re quicker and sharper and going to land with a little more sharpness and force than the man standing across from you.
You see it on full display in his win over Ian Heinisch, a fight where he entered as the underdog, but established right away that he was the better man in the cage that evening.
His jab was crisp and on-point, doing all the prep work for the rest of his attacks. He pressured forward at all times, dealing with whatever came back his way without bother before getting back in Heinisch’s face. Nothing was rushed. Nothing was forced. It was all jab, jab-cross, jab again until opportunities presented themselves for a little something more to be added to the mix.
A knee as Heinisch dipped his head. A left hand along the fence that landed flush and caused “The Hurricane” to stumble. The barrage of left hands when Heinisch fell to a knee and covered up along the fence.
There is a little Diaz Brothers to the way Imavov carries his hands and throws his hands inside the cage — they hang low, but rise up quickly, land sharp, but never with more than 75% power behind them. He’s not looking to bang you out of there with one shot; he’s chipping away, wearing you down, accumulating damage, trusting that the more he lands, the less you’ll offer in return and the sooner his opportunity to finish will present itself.
What is really handy, however, is the fact that he’s got some grappling in his back pocket if need be as well.
While he’s not necessarily coming across the cage looking for blast doubles and high crotch lifts against the fence, Imavov has sound defensive wrestling and scrambles well, while also being willing to look at submissions if openings are there. But he’s also not overly reliant on any of those elements either — they’re secondary weapons, complementary pieces of his arsenal that help make him more of a complete fighter and more dangerous threat overall.
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The thing that really stands out to me about Imavov is that he’s clearly someone that learns from his time in the cage and makes adjustments. As basic and obvious as that concept sounds, it’s not something that everyone does, though they absolutely should.
In his fight with Hawes, Imavov was far too willing to allow Hawes to dictate the terms of engagement — the American was the one coming forward, initiating the clinch, controlling things along the fence, resulting in long periods of tepid action that all works in Hawes’ favour. When he had success was when he was the one coming forward, dictating the range, using his long strikes to keep Hawes from getting inside.
Guess what he did exceptionally well in his next two outings?
Against both Heinisch and Shahbazyan, Imavov led the dance and was able to force his adversaries to fight on his terms, resulting in much more effective work and an ability to draw out mistakes from each man. While he’s serviceable working as a counter-fighter and looking to land in the clinch, Imavov is significantly better when he’s the one commanding the center of the Octagon, forcing opponents to deal with his length, his advancing attacks, his feints, and precision.
Now, some of that is down to the opposition — Hawes has a clear mission most times when he gets in there, whereas Heinisch and Shahbazyan are a little more free-form at times — but it’s also a keen adjustment by a 26-year-old fighter looking to find every advantage he can inside the cage and getting comfortable in who he is as a competitor.
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Saturday’s fight with Buckley is another good test for Imavov, even if it feels like a slight backwards step after dispatching a ranked opponent last time out.
As explosive as he can be, we’ve also seen Buckley get stuck in low-output fights at times, particularly against opponents with the size to keep him outside, like Imavov, so it should be an opportunity for “The Sniper” to set the tempo and author the terms of engagement. He’ll need to be mindful of Buckley’s power, which carries over into the latter rounds, but he’s not someone that is likely to look to close the distance, work from the clinch, or wrestle, which means Imavov should have plenty of opportunities to let loose with his weapons in space.
Middleweight is wide open at the moment — several established veterans have fallen back, one has called it a day, another is poised to in a couple months, and there isn’t an abundance of young, ascending talents working forward to battle for those positions.
Imavov is one of a handful of new names displaying upside and potential for real forward progress in the 185-pound ranks, and he’s the farthest along of any of them, entering Saturday’s event in Paris with a number next to his name and a chance to earn a third straight win.
Should that come to pass, a date with one of the established veterans ahead of him in the pecking order feels like the right step; perhaps re-booking the fight with Kelvin Gastelum that was supposed to take place in April, but didn’t when Imavov ran into visa issues.
Regardless of what comes next, Imavov profiles as someone that should continue to reside in the rankings for the next several years, and a fighter that is very much capable of working towards — if not into — the Top 5 as he enters the prime years of his career inside the UFC cage.