Nassourdine Imavov stops former title challenger Jared Cannonier in UFC Louisville main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, June 8, 2024 for UFC Louisville, going down live from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Headlining the event was a middleweight clash between no. 4 ranked former title challenger Jared Cannonier (17-7) and no. 7 ranked Nassourdine Imavov (14-4, 1 NC).
Cannonier came into the bout on a two-fight win streak, having gone 7-2 since dropping down to 185 lbs with those only defeats coming to former champions Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya, and the wins coming over David Branch (TKO), Anderson Silva (TKO), Jack Hermansson (TKO), Kelvin Gastelum (UD), Derek Brunson (KO), Sean Strickland (SD), and Marvin Vettori (UD).
Imavov on the other hand, following a 1-1 run to begin his UFC tenure, had since gone 4-1 (1 NC) with wins over Ian Heinisch (TKO), Edmen Shahbazyan (TKO), Joaquin Buckley (UD), and Roman Dolidze (MD), with his lone defeat coming to Sean Strickland (UD) up at 205 lbs.
Continue reading to see how this 185 lb main event encounter went down:
Official Result: Nassourdine Imavov def. Jared Cannonier via TKO (punches) at 1:34 of round four
Cannonier imposed his will immediately once the bout began, controlling the center and landing a hard two punch combination in the opening 10 seconds. He secured a foot sweep along the fence, though Imavov got right back to his feet. Imavov also caught a kick thrown by Cannonier and put him on his back momentarily in the opening stretch.
Round two was quite similar, Cannonier walking forward with a heavy handed attack, also landing good calf kicks, though Imavov started to come alive and land good combinations of his own.
After a back and forth round three that could’ve gone either way Imavov landed a nasty right hand that had Cannonier on wobbly legs in the fourth. After some follow up shots Jason Herzog stopped the fight, unjustly I might add. More often than not he’s one of the better referees in the sport, but this was quite a pitiful stoppage. Cannonier was hurt, but he didn’t even drop, and he didn’t eat an onslaught of strikes, just a few before Herzog stepped in.
Click here to view finish.
Nonetheless, Nassourdine Imavov will likely enter the top five of the UFC’s middleweight rankings following this win tonight in UFC Louisville’s main event.
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