Islam Makhachev sends message to Nassourdine Imavov after ‘dominant’ UFC Paris win

Islam Makhachev reacts to Nassourdine Imavov’s win at UFC Paris

Headlining the promotion’s return to Paris was surging middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov, who looked to rubber-stamp his first charge for gold, taking on Brazilian challenger Caio Borralho.

And turning in a dominant unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) victory over Fighting Nerds staple Borralho, Imavov improved his unbeaten run to an impressive five straight wins.

Staking his claim for a shot at Khamzat Chimaev in the immediate aftermath of his success, Imavov was met with some words of praise from Makhachev post-fight, too.

“Dominant performance @imavov1,” Makhachev posted on X. “Congrats, bro.”

And while already tied to a historic title charge against Perth finisher Della Maddalena by the end of the year, Makhachev has also been linked to a particular middleweight clash in a bid to prove Octagon supremacy.

Khamzat Chimaev weighs up super fight with Islam Makhachev

Competing exclusively at lightweight during his roughshod run in the UFC, Makhachev has been identified as a potential future opponent by newly minted middleweight kingpin Chimaev, too.

Snatching the gold just last month in another dominant win over the incumbent Dricus du Plessis, Chimaev could only land himself at number four in the official pound-for-pound rankings.

However, ahead of his fight with du Plessis, Chimaev boldly suggested a showdown with Makhachev in the future would determine the true number one pound-for-pound fighter in the Octagon.

“We will see who will be the champion there [at welterweight],” Chimaev told MMA Junkie.

“I don’t know. It’s the fastest way [fighting Islam Makhachev] to get the pound-for-pound number 1.”