Sean Strickland made quite the noise in the world of MMA last year by defeating Israel Adesanya and clinching the middleweight title but his reign as a champion was short. Despite giving a gritty performance, ‘Tarzan’ lost on the scorecards to the South African sensation Dricus Du Plessis. The outcome was controversial, but Du Plessis ultimately had the last laugh, leaving one of Strickland’s past opponents feeling emboldened.

UFC Vegas 85 winner, Nassourdine Imavov believes that he has the potential to take on the former champion after their last faceoff ended in a loss for the Frenchman. In an exclusive with EssentiallySports, Imavov explained the reason why he lost his bout against Strickland.

Nassourdine Imavov’s confidence: Ready to take on Sean Strickland

Going into 2023, Nassourdine Imavov had a three-fight winning streak and then he came face to face with Sean Strickland who beat him via a unanimous decision. In a subsequent stroke of misfortune, Imavov’s June bout against Chris Curtis concluded prematurely with a no-contest, the result of an accidental clash of heads. To make things worse, Imavov had to withdraw from his scheduled UFC 294 matchup against Ikram Aliskerov in October.

Recently the fighter sat down with EssentiallySports and in our conversation, Imavov fired shots at the former champion. “One of the things that you have to know is the last time I fought against Strickland, first of all, he was 10 kilograms heavier than me. And then they have the fight. Second of all, I was preparing for a wrestler during the fight because I was fighting against Kevin Gastelum. “

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He further explained that Strickland is a fighter who likes to fight on his feet, and he has already made adjustments to defeat him. “I mean, it was a stand-up war for sure. Strickland has a way of fighting, and it’s stand-up, but with small adjustments that we already made. We’ve already been working on those adjustments for this fight. I think I can beat him standing up,” said Imavov.

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The French-Dagestani has now clinched a decisive victory against Roman Dolidze at the UFC Vegas 85. Imavov is motivated and now he wants only one fight, Strickland.

Imavov knew Strickland was championship material

The defeat against Sean Strickland was harsh for Imavov and seems like he remembers it well. After his victory against Dolidze, the French fighter took his time to issue a fresh challenge to the former middleweight champion. “But regarding my performance and my next fight, I wanna fight against Sean Strickland,” he said.

What’s even more interesting is that Imavov respects Strickland as a fighter. Surprisingly, Imavov was sure that Strickland was going to win against Israel Adesanya. He explained the same during the UFC Vegas 85 post-fight press conference.

“Yes, of course. First of all, I wasn’t expecting him to fight for the belt. I think it was short notice, but yep, I expected him to win against Israel Adesanya because I fought him. I knew how his real style of boxing was, something that was very difficult to fight against”, said the now #8 ranked middleweight.

What do you think of this potential rematch? Do you think Imavov will be able to turn the tables on Strickland if they fought again? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. (Courtesy: Sony Sports Network).

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