Fueled by an explosive Paris crowd, one of France’s adopted MMA sons appears to have placed himself into the driver’s seat for the next shot at the UFC middleweight title.
Nassourdine Imavov (17-4) stuffed all five takedown attempts and put on a master class in striking and defense en route to a unanimous decision win (50-45, 49-46 twice) in the main event of UFC Fight Night from Accor Arena.
The win was the fifth straight for Imavov, a 30-year-old native of Russia who moved to France at age four, and snapped the 17-fight unbeaten streak of Caio Borralho (17-2, 1 NC), which dated back to 2015.
In a crowded 185-pound title picture, UFC CEO Dana White had previously announced that Imavov-Borralho and the Oct. 14 headliner between Reiner de Ridder and Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez would produce who gets the first shot at new middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev. Although Imavov was unable to stop the game Borralho, the 32-year-old leader of the popular Fighting Nerds gym in Brazil, his performance proved to be a strong statement.
“I am the next,” Imavov said after the fight to the Paris crowd in English before switching back to French. “Absolutely no hesitation whatsoever that I am next. [Borralho] was unbeaten for 10 years and I beat him. I beat him with style, as well. Definitely, I need to be the next one.”
Imavov, who was just seven months removed from a stunning knockout of former champion Israel Adensaya, revealed that he had suffered a painful injury against Borralho that limited his movement.
“Considering the circumstances, I’m really happy with my performance,” Imavov said. “I have to say, I don’t know what it was but on my right foot, there’s either a tendon or something on my heel that let go. It was really painful. I’d like to get the finish but I’m satisfied with what it is.”
Imavov established a visible advantage in hand speed throughout the first round and relied on head movement to frustrate Borralho out of his any success darting in with his flowing, karate style from the southpaw stance. In Round 2, Imavov began to counter at will with his straight right hand and landed a spinning backfist to stun Borralho.
Not only did Imavov keep his back off of the canvas by stuffing takedown attempts, his defensive mastery forced Borralho to begin to rush his offense in Round 3, only to find the sharp and more technical Imavov picking him off at every turn.
“I think Nassourdine was just a better man today,” Borralho said. “He was very fast, as I was expecting. He did very good into the fight and I couldn’t adapt that much.”
Borralho had won all seven of his UFC fights coming in but had been anything but active since his 2024 win over Jared Cannonier that led to a 13-month layoff. Borralho was also visibly out of answers for most of the fight until he rallied on the feet in the final round as he never stopped attacking despite a lack of sustained success.
Imavov was also lucky that referee Marc Goddard did not deduct a point following a second eye poke against Borralho in Round 4.
“I wanted to make this fight entertaining for the fans and for the UFC so I tried to strike with one of the best strikers in the world,” Borralho said. “I just think that I need to find my adrenaline back [after the long layoff]. I couldn’t pick it up into the fight.”
Benoit Saint Denis submits Mauricio Ruffy in dominant win
Don’t count Benoit Saint Denis out of the UFC lightweight title picture just yet.
With the Paris crowd reacting to his every move, Saint Denis (15-3, 1 NC) put a pair of recent stoppage defeats further in the rearview mirror by dominating red-hot striker Mauricio Ruffy en route to a second-round submission in the co-main event.
Sant Denis, 29, relied on his relentless wrestling attack from the start and never allowed Ruffy (12-2) to enjoy momentum of any kind. The native of France secured four takedowns, reached full mount three times and ultimately forced the tap at 2:56 of Round 2 via rear-naked choke.
The victory was the second-straight submission win for Saint Denis in 2025 following back-to-back knockout defeats to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano (via doctor’s stoppage) the previous year.
“Thanks guys for keeping faith in me,” Saint Denis told the crowd after the fight. “Thank you for forgiving me for the performance a year ago and for believing in me. And, you know what? We are in the final. Let’s keep on going.”
Ruffy, a 29-year-old native of Brazil, entered the bout riding a seven-fight win streak, which included three victories since making his UFC debut in May 2024. The No. 15-ranked lightweight coming in, Ruffy entered as the betting favorite but ate an early kick to the body that left him vulnerable to be taken down.
Although BSD was unable to inflict much damage in the opening round, he dominated with control time on the ground and multiple takes of Ruffy’s back as Saint Denis forced his opponent to carry his weight.
“I worked really hard,” Saint Denis said. ” [My coaches] put me in the right positions and I had the right people around me. It was just perfect.”
The No. 13 Saint Denis walked through a jumping knee and lead elbow to secure an early takedown to open Round 2. After hurting Ruffy again with a kick to the body, BSD remained relentless throughout a long clinch against the cage before ultimately securing the takedown that led to the finish.
“With these kind of guys, they have one shot to entry,” Saint Denis said. “Sometimes, with the media hype, it all gets blown out of proportion but, at the end of the day, it’s just two guys in a cage and they fight.
“If there’s a fighter in the top 10 who doesn’t have an opponent, I”m ready to step in.”
