Nassourdine Imavov snubs UFC title eliminator with dark horse

One other day, one other high UFC contender denying a possible combat.

No. 1-ranked middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov is on the cusp of a UFC title shot, and he is not prepared to think about the rest.

With rumors of Dricus Du Plessis being injured, many fighters have put their names ahead to compete for an interim title, together with No. 6 Caio Borralho.

The Combating Nerds prospect initially wished to combat Imavov earlier than leaping ship to an interim title combat with Khamzat Chimaev.

With that in thoughts, Imavov has given his ideas on combating Borralho in a title eliminator.

Imavov believes he’d knock out Borralho, however is not eager on letting him ‘fall ahead’ and progress his profession by shedding.

“He’ll get [knocked out]. He’ll sleep,” Imavov advised Championship Rounds. “Then they’re gonna say, ‘It’s normal. He [Imavov] was No. 1, you see.’

“That is their approach of managing their careers. Falling forwards. It is higher to fall forwards than backwards. . . . So wait your flip.” [Translated by @ChampRDS on X]

Imavov rides a four-fight profitable streak, every in opposition to ranked opposition. Borralho hasn’t executed any ‘falling ahead’ as Imavov explains, since he’s 7-0 within the UFC, however Imavov stakes a greater declare for title competition. ‘The Sniper’s’ largest win got here in opposition to Israel Adesanya.

Nevertheless, Borralho alleges Chimaev has accepted the decision for an interim title combat so Imavov may be out of luck. Imavov might contemplate a rematch with Sean Strickland or one other win over a former champion in Robert Whittaker as an alternative of a title combat.

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