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Israel Adesanya blamed a six-inch mistake that got him shockingly knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Hamish Woodward | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 10:26 AM ET

Nassourdine Imavov finished Israel Adesanya in the biggest win of his career, but the margin between win and loss was just six inches.

Israel Adesanya sought to bounce back from losing the UFC Middleweight championship to Sean Strickland quickly, although a loss to Dricus du Plessis quickly put him in his place.

His attempted rebuild hit another hurdle as he was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov just 30 seconds into the second round of their main event fight in February 2025.

This landed Adesanya his third loss on the bounce, but he claims the difference between being knocked out and staying in the fight was a mere six inches.

Israel Adesanya blamed a six-inch mistake that got him finished by Nassourdine Imavov

Adesanya argued that he could have avoided defeat to Imavov had he just been an extra six inches back before being knocked to the mat with a vicious punch.

The Nigerian-Kiwi fighter attempted to switch stances mid-fight before being rocked by a huge right hand by Imavov, which set the scene for his TKO win just moments later.

The Last Stylebender told the YOUNG MAN RAMBLE podcast back in February that the reason he lost the fight was that he was simply six inches too far forward when changing stance, leaving him open to Imavov’s strikes.

However, he also noted that an accidental eye poke ruined his “flow”, although he refused to make an excuse for his loss against the impressive Frenchman.

Adesanya said: “For me, I should have taken my time. I don’t make excuses, and I don’t take anything away from him. I should have reset, but then I was like, cool.

“I was at the wrong distance, but when you’re in your flow, you’re in your flow. Then the eye poke kind of stopped my flow.

“I should have been about six inches back, and then that way, when I switch stances… he was smart enough, like, ‘Oh, he’s there,’ and he caught me. It was the left hook on the fence that got me.”

Nassourdine Imavov resisted calls for Israel Adesanya to retire after knocking him out

After beating The Last Stylebender in impressive fashion, Imavov rejected the idea that Adesanya should retire from the sport, despite a poor run of form.

The former UFC Middleweight suffered a trio of defeats, ending with Imavov, and has yet to return to the octagon since the Imavov loss.

However, Imavov rejected calls for his opponent to retire in the post-fight press conference, pointing out how good he looked in the fight before a six-inch mistake cost him the win.

Imavov said: “No [he shouldn’t retire], I think he’s in really good shape and I think he should keep fighting, he can be [back to] winning fights for sure.”

“It’s an incredible sensation, he’s a legend, and I just beat a legend,”