After a week off following the break at UFC 311, the action returns on Saturday, February 1 with UFC Fight Night 250, which will be headlined by the clash between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov and will mark the start of a marathon of nine weeks of excitement in the octagon.
This duel, which will not have a title at stake, will take place at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the card will be headlined by Adesanya (24-4), who will have his first fight outside of a numbered event (PPV) since 2017. However, the Nigerian made it clear that he is not worried: “I still get paid. There is still a referee, it’s just the two of us and there is an audience. It’s not like in the Apex or anything like that, so it doesn’t feel different,” he said.
Adesanya needs to return to prominence, after losing his belt to Sean Strickland in 2023, then falling to Dricus Du Plessis in 2024 and has not won again since he knocked out Alex Pereira in 2023.
Standing in his way will be Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov (15-4), who will try to position himself as a serious middleweight title contender, and is motivated to step into the octagon with a three-fight winning streak: Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier and Brendan Allen were his victims.
However, Imavov knows that he will first have to beat Adesanya and then wait, as Khamzat Chimaev is the one who is first in line, waiting for what happens between the champion Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland at UFC 312, scheduled for next week.
UFC Fight Night 250: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov fight card
In addition to the main fight, Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov, there is also the fight between Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov (15-0) against Venom Page (22-3), after the ‘Pirate’ from Dagestan remains undefeated and arrives at the event after his impressive knockout over Petrosyan at UFC 308. Here is the full card:
Main card
- #2 Israel Adesanya (24-4-0) vs. #5 Nassourdine Imavov (15-4-0)
- #14 Shara Magomedov (15-0-0) vs. Michael Page (22-3-0)
- #4 Sergei Pavlovich (18-3-0) vs. #9 Jairzinho Rozenstruik (15-5-0)
- Ikram Aliskerov (15-2-0) vs. Andre Muniz (24-6-0)
- Said Nurmagomedov (18-3-0) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (21-3-0)
- Muhammadjon Naimov (11-3-0) vs. Kaan Ofli (12-3-1)
Preliminary
- Fares Ziam (16-4-0) vs. Mike Davis (11-2-0)
- #14 Shamil Gaziev (13-1-0) vs. Thomas Petersen (9-2-0)
- Terrance McKinney (15-7-0) vs. Damir Hadzovic (14-7-0)
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (15-4-0) vs. Bolaji Oki (9-2-0)
- #12 Jasmine Jasudavicius (12-3-0) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (10-4-1)
- Bogdan Grad (14-2-0) vs. Lucas Alexander (8-4-0)
- Hamdy Abdelwahab (5-0-0) vs. Jamal Pogues (11-4-0)