The main event of UFC Paris carried big implications for the middleweight division and its new champion.
There has been a lot of talk since he won the title regarding who Khamzat Chimaev will face in his first title defense.
While it unfortunately doesn’t look like Chimaev will be competing again this year after initially teasing this plan, we are now one step closer to finding out who will be standing across from him inside the Octagon.
Two big middleweight matchups were set to take place near one another to determine which man is going to be the frontrunner.
At UFC Paris, Nassourdine Imavov defeated Caio Borralho to move himself into pole position as it stands.
Khamzat Chimaev shares his immediate reaction to Nassourdine Imavov’s win
Nassourdine Imavov continued his middleweight win streak on Saturday night in Paris by beating Caio Borralho via a unanimous decision.
The matchup was certainly entertaining, with an electric French crowd getting to watch both men dish out some big shots as they went toe-to-toe for the entire five-round duration.
Ultimately, it was Imavov who emerged victorious in fairly convincing fashion, but the question remains whether a decision win will be enough to earn him the title shot.
Reinier de Ridder is set to take on Anthony Hernandez next month, and if either man is able to produce a highlight in Vancouver, they could move ahead of Imavov in the title fight stakes.
The champion, Khamzat Chimaev, didn’t wait too long before he gave his initial thoughts on the fight via a post on social media.
Chimaev unsurprisingly didn’t share too much about the UFC Paris main event, simply complimenting both men and saying “peace be upon you”.
“Good fight! Assalamu Alaykum.”
Nassourdine Imavov makes his pitch for being the next middleweight title challenger
Nassourdine Imavov made it very clear in his post-fight interview at UFC Paris that he believes he should be the first man to challenge Khamzat Chimaev.
After beating Caio Borralho, he certainly has the most impressive run of any of the contenders that are in the mix, but a decision win does leave some room for someone to get there first.
Imavov stated after the fight that he has to be next after being the first person to beat Borralho in over a decade.
The Frenchman also showed respect to his opponent, telling his home fans that the Brazilian only made comments about him ahead of their fight to promote it.
