UFC Louisville has it’s main event and it’s a good one. This afternoon, MMA Mania reported that the June 8th Fight Night from the KFC Yum Center will be headlined by a top ten middleweight clash between former title challenger Jared Cannonier (17-6) and Nassourdine Imavov (13-4).
The headliner is a massive opportunity for Imavov. Imavov is currently the eighth ranked contender in the middleweight division. The last time we saw him was back in February when he defeated Roman Dolidze in a Fight Night main event. That was Imavov’s first win since September 2022.
Imavov started out 4-1 in his first five fights in the UFC including a win over Joaquin Buckley. Then, he lost a decision to Sean Strickland before having a No Contest against Chris Curtis. Now, he gets a shot against a former title challenger and could be looking at the top five with a win.
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For Jared Cannonier, this will be his first fight in a bout a year. He last fought back in June when he dominated Marvin Vettori over the course of five rounds. He was supposed to fight Roman Dolidze in December, but he injured his knee and the injury required surgery. Now, he’s fully recovered and ready to go.
Since dropping down to the middleweight division, Cannonier is 7-2 in nine fights. The only two losses have come against former UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. He has stacked up some very impressive wins including Vettori, Sean Strickland, Derek Brunson, and Kelvin Gastelum.
This is a big fight for the middleweight division which is very fluid at the moment. Whoever wins should find themselves squarely in the title picture.
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