Ikram Aliskerov vs Nassourdine Imavov booked for UFC 294
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the Middle East this fall for UFC 294, an event to be headlined by a UFC lightweight championship rematch between current champion Islam Makhachev (24-1) and former champion Charles Oliveira (34-9).
UFC 294 is to go down on October 21, 2023, live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
We’ve also got two stellar middleweight showdowns going down at this event.
Considering we lost Paulo Costa (14-2) versus Ikram Aliskerov (14-1), a fight that was supposed to happen last night at UFC 291, we’ll now see no. 7 ranked Costa face no. 4 ranked welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev (12-0) at UFC 294, with Aliskerov facing no. 13 ranked Nassourdine Imavov (12-4) earlier on the card.
Ikram Aliskerov has only ever been defeated by Chimaev, a fight he was 8-0 going into.
Following defeat in this fight he’s since won his last six-straight, including his UFC debut victory over Phil Hawes in May, who he KO’d at 2:10 of the opening round. He also ran straight through the 15-2 Mario Sousa on Dana White’s Contender Series in his fight prior last September, submitting (kimura) him at 2:09 of round one.
Aliskerov also boasts victories over UFC veterans Denis Tiuliulin (kimura) and Nah-Shon Burrell (UD), he has 10 finishes in 14 career wins, and three of his latest six wins come via kimura.
Furthermore, Aliskerov is a four-time world champion in Combat Sambo, and also a three-time European champion in the sport.
Nassourdine Imavov on the other hand has been in the UFC since 2020. Following victory in his promotional debut over Jordan Williams (UD), he’d lose his sophomore effort to Phil Hawes (MD), their one common opponent.
The Frenchman then went on to win his next three-straight over the likes of Ian Heinisch (TKO), Edmen Shahbazyan (TKO), and Joaquin Buckley (UD). This led up to his two most recent outings, where he lost to Sean Strickland (UD) in their five round main event back in January, before unfortunately battling to a no contest with Chris Curtis in a fight he was looking very sharp in.
There’s a lot of hype surrounding both of these men. Many look at Imavov as the future of 185 lbs, and now that Aliskerov is in the spotlight and we all know how good he is, there’s a lot to be expected in this fight.
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