29-year-old Nassourdine Imavov is currently high on momentum with a three-fight winning streak in the UFC and is gearing up for what is the biggest fight of his career. The middleweight fighter is all set to feature at UFC Fight Night 250 against the former two-time champion, Israel Adesanya. ‘The Sniper’ has stood out as one of the finest talents in the 185-pound division, but that’s not what we’ll be focusing on today.

With just two losses in his 4-plus year UFC career, Nassourdine Imavov has garnered his fair share of fans, and it’s understandable that they would want to know more about him. As he prepares for his upcoming fight, we delve into the details of his ethnicity and nationality. Without any further ado, let’s dive into it!

Where is Nassourdine Imavov from? 

Nassourdine Imavov is a French national but has roots in Russia. Imavov was born in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Russia, on March 1, 1995. However, in search of better opportunities in MMA, he and his family members moved to Salon-de-Provence in France. This could come as a surprise to many because Dagestan has become one of the hotbeds of top MMA talents. 

Nonetheless, hailing from Russia, Imavov is an accomplished wrestler, which is the story of most of the fighters in Russia. However, after moving to France at the age of 10, he started learning to box, which helped him in his fights in the UFC. But does he still pledge allegiance to his roots in Russia when he competes on the international stage? Well, it’s not that simple.

Which country does Nassourdine Imavov represent? 

When he was in Dagestan, Nassourdine Imavov claimed that he never participated in any kind of sports. As we’ve mentioned already, he was pretty young when he moved to France, and it was there that he discovered his love for boxing. When he started competing, he represented France since he was a citizen of that country.

As a French fighter, ‘The Sniper’ has won championships in regional MMA promotions, and now, with his impressive run in the UFC, he’s putting his nation on the map as well. But this is all about Nassourdine Imavov’s fighting career, so let’s take a look at how his life was growing up and what led him to become a mixed martial artist.

Imavov’s childhood in Dagestan

A couple of years back, A YouTube channel by the name of ‘MMA Fanatics’ shared a video of an interview where the middleweight fighter shared the details of his childhood days. While he didn’t do any sports, Nassourdine Imavov claimed that he knew how to wrestle, which was the culture in Dagestan. Almost everybody knows how to wrestle, which is not a very surprising revelation, given how many world-class wrestling-heavy MMA fighters the region has produced.

“I wasn’t in a sports gym, but I was doing some fighting. We would fight outside, and like I said when my father’s friend would bring his son, we would wrestle. It’s the culture. Everybody’s doing wrestling,” Nassourdine Imavov stated. The 29-year-old then gave a bit of a glimpse of his childhood days in France and pointed out how he first started doing boxing there. He said, “Of course, it wasn’t easy. For me, it was okay because I was a kid. When you are a kid, you quickly adopt.” 

Nassourdine Imavov’s father was also a professional boxer, and it was his brother, Daguir Imavov, who first started fighting professionally. ‘The Sniper’ started liking MMA at the age of 19 and moved to Paris to train at Fernand Lopez’s MMA Factory.

Coming back to the upcoming fight, the battle between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov is pretty evenly poised at the moment, since one fighter, who’s a former champion, is on a losing skid while his opponent, who’s an up-and-coming contender, is on a winning streak. Imavov relies a lot on his boxing skills but can be deceptive with his wrestling as well. But can he topple Adesanya at UFC Fight Night 250? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.