Final evening’s win at UFC Louisville was a bittersweet one for Nassourdine Imavov. The MMA Manufacturing unit middleweight had Jared Cannonier damage and stumbling round earlier than the combat was known as off prematurely within the eyes of many. Will his subsequent combat be a rematch with one in every of his former opponents? Let’s discover the choices.
Preventing upwards: Sean Strickland rematch
The one true choice for Nassourdine Imavov to combat north can be a rematch with Sean Strickland. Strickland is coming off of a victory over Paulo Costa final weekend at UFC 302. Strickland can also be the final particular person to defeat the French native which got here in 2023. That combat noticed Strickland win a unanimous determination and would finally go on to win the title.
The one difficulty: Sean Strickland desires to combat for the title subsequent and has a powerful case for the Dricus Du Plessis rematch. The way in which middleweight is at the moment scheduled could imply that the 28-year-old could must combat down within the rankings.
He’s not getting the title shot in opposition to Dricus Du Plessis over Strickland or Adesanya. Robert Whittaker going to tackle Khamzat Chimaev in a pair weeks. This implies the one choice to combat above is probably going Strickland. If Strickland doesn’t need to combat down, Imavov is out.
Prospect vs. Prospect
The most effective matchup, for my part, is a combat with Brendan Allen. Nassourdine Imavov will seemingly leapfrog fifth ranked Allen and take Cannonier’s fourth rating. Allen, nonetheless, is on a seven combat successful streak and has made an enormous title for himself as he made his means up the rankings.
Nassourdine Imavov has had hassle with fighters in opposition to the fence. Cannonier and Roman Dolidze managed to carry him there for prolonged durations. A possible combat with Allen would reply the query of, “Can Imavov cease a takedown in opposition to an excellent wrestler?” Dolidze has didn’t get a takedown in his final 5 fights. Cannonier is a striker first. Brendan Allen would get his shot on the prime 5 and Imavov would reply an important query earlier than taking over a fighter like Dricus Du Plessis.
The opposite rematch: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Jared Cannonier 2
With the controversial nature of final evening’s combat, there’s a case to be made for Imavov vs. Cannonier 2. Jared Cannonier was pretty nicely recovered when the Jason Herzog known as the combat. With Cannonier coming off a yr layoff because of an MCL surgical procedure, the case may very well be made that Cannonier was compromised because of the nature of his harm.
This doesn’t do a lot for Imavov, who can be taking all of the dangers. He would seemingly need to keep away from getting in a scenario like Magomed Ankalaev, who spent a yr of his life preventing, rematching, and rebooking a combat with Ion Cutelaba. But when Imavov can’t get Strickland or Allen, Jared Cannonier could also be the perfect combat for him.