Islam Makhachev Makes Bold Call on Khamzat Chimaev’s Next Fight Following Nassourdine Imavov’s UFC Paris Result

UFC Paris turned out to be a great one for the French fighters. Five of them registered victories, including middleweight star Nassourdine Imavov, who put on a clinical performance against Caio Borralho to earn a unanimous decision victory. Well, it was not only the French crowd that celebrated his win. In fact, former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev also congratulated the Russian-born French fighter as well.

Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho took a few swipes at each other prior to their fight at UFC Paris, and they settled the score in the former’s home territory. As expected, the crowd booed the Brazilian fighter immensely while cheering on their local hero. And that paid off because Imavov went on to register a comprehensive win, prompting Islam Makhachev to react.

As the French star spoke to Michael Bisping during the post-fight interview, Islam Makhachev, who shares a cordial relationship with Khamzat Chimaev, shared a tweet, congratulating Imavov on his win. “Dominant performance [Nassourdine Imavov]. Congrats bro,” the former lightweight champion wrote on X. Well, that’s a great pat on the back from one of the best fighters in the UFC ever, as it remains to be seen what lies ahead for Nassourdine Imavov, as most speculate that he could end up fighting Chimaev next.

Well, it’s back to the drawing board for Caio Borralho, and a step towards the title for Nassourdine Imavov. But let us take a look back at the fight and see how everything went down. Here’s what happened.

Nassourdine Imavov vs Caio Borralho at UFC Paris – as it happened

The UFC Paris main event started off with both fighters taking a cautious approach. Gradually, they increased the tempo, as Caio Borralho failed to take down Nassourdine Imavov. The Frenchman seemed to be in control of the pace of the fight and showed impressive counterstrikes. As the round came to a close, both men ended it in a clinch. The second round started similarly to the first one, as Caio Borralho slipped in some strikes and Nassourdine Imavov countered him with some of his own strikes, and even landed a spinning back fist. ‘The Natural’ continued to struggle with attempts to take down the Frenchman, as they traded some impactful punches.

The third round was the one that brought the crowd back to life. Nassourdine Imavov caught Caio Borralho with a big punch, rattling the Brazilian, but he recovered with a clinch. But the fight briefly stopped when the Frenchman got caught in the ground area with an illegal strike. That prompted a 1-minute time-out period. They continued to exchange strikes thereafter, but then, another illegal move was used, and this time it was the Frenchman who accidentally poked Borralho’s eyes.

The fight continued nonetheless, and another attempt from Borralho to take Imavov down failed. The fourth and fifth saw Nassourdine Imavov being the dominant fighter, and finally, he would see through the fourth round to register a victory. So, let us know how you rate Imavov’s performance at UFC Paris. Drop your comments below.