Nassourdine Imavov is gearing up for perhaps the biggest fight of his career against Israel Adesanya at UFC Saudi Arabia. For his opponent ‘Izzy’, it will be his first non-title fighting in almost six years, and his first non-numbered UFC event (Fight Night) since the TUF 27 finale back in 2018. Ahead of his fight against ‘The Last Stylebender’ at UFC Fight Night 250 on February 1, he gave his thoughts on the upcoming middleweight championship fight on February 9. And his pick for that fight might surprise you.

In one of the most exciting rematches, Sean Strickland gets another crack at Dricus du Plessis’s middleweight crown in the upcoming UFC 312 PPV. Their previous encounter was a razor-thin bout and Dana White even claimed that he thought Strickland won the fight. It seems like ‘Tarzan’ has garnered the same sentiment from Nassourdine Imavov, who believes Strickland will brush off ‘Stillknocks’ this time around.

“I think who’ll win [is] Strickland,” Nassourdine Imavov told MMA Junkie. In addition to the fight prediction, the Dagestani-French fighter also weighed in on Sean Strickland’s proposal to compete in a stand-up battle against his South African. Imavov not only ridiculed the former champion but also suggested that he change his profession if he’s not willing to compete in a full-on MMA rules fight.

“He thinks Strickland’s gonna win the fight and the fact that he’s proposing to stay up ground, to stay striking, it’s MMA. So, you don’t decide the rules. If you wanna do only striking, go to boxing,” Imavov’s translator added. Meanwhile, his opponent, Israel Adesanya, also shared his prediction for the UFC 312 headliner, and it’s the opposite of his French counterpart’s pick.

Israel Adesanya backs Dricus du Plessis to beat Sean Strickland again

Israel Adesanya has faced defeat against both Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Having squared off against both of them, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is leaning towards the South African star to clinch victory. Adesanya claims that Dricus du Plessis has momentum on his side after beating two former champions, and believes that there is a chance that this fight will end the same way it did last time at UFC 297.

“I say that Dricus wins that one, if it’s close, maybe, or maybe it’s more decisive this time, it’s gonna be a hard fight for both men but I think I would give the edge to Dricus in this fight,” Israel Adesanya told MMA Junkie. If we look at the oddsmakers’ choice, they have placed Sean Strickland as the +170 underdog and Dricus du Plessis as the -205 favorite. So, it looks like the oddsmakers seem to agree with Adesanya’s pick.

Meanwhile, the fight between Nassourdine Imavov and Israel Adesanya could see the winner get closer to the title as well. But it remains to be seen how the middleweight division will pan out after these two big matchups in February. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.