It’s not common for fans to see former Israel Adesanya out of the title picture, given that he made an instant impact in the UFC upon his arrival and cemented his legacy in the middleweight division. Recently, ‘Izzy’ ran into a brick wall in 2023 when he lost the middleweight title. After failing to reclaim the belt in the subsequent fight, Adesanya will now be headlining a Fight Night event, which seems like a significant step down in his UFC run.

The last time UFC came to Saudi Arabia, the officials of the country wanted a stacked card, which led Dana White to make adjustments to his initial plans. Once given what they wanted, the event turned out to be a massive success, and in the same way, this year’s Fight Night is even bigger due to Israel Adesanya’s involvement. But his opponent is no small-time fighter, which brings us to the first reason why this fight may not be in ‘The Last Stylebender’s favor.

Nassourdine Imavov is a tough opponent

Born in Dagestan and raised in France, Nassourdine Imavov is as good a fighter as they come. The 29-year-old has had an impressive professional run so far, registering 15 wins and 4 losses since turning pro in 2016. What’s even more impressive is that Imavov has only lost twice in the UFC, and is now on a three-fight winning streak, including a win over former title contender, Jared Cannonier. Now, getting to fight Israel Adesanya is perhaps ‘The Sniper’s biggest outing in his entire career.

Nassourdine Imavov is one of the most versatile wrestlers on the current UFC roster. He has won fights via knockout, which is something that Israel Adesanya has also done. But where Israel Adesanya is lacking is his ground game. Imavov has four submission wins, but the former 2-time champion is yet to register one. Hence, ‘The Sniper’ cannot be written off until we get to the fight, and Adesanya might have to be on his tiptoes this weekend since he could suffer a third defeat and fall down further on the pecking order. Now, let’s move on to the next reason.

First non-title and non-UFC PPV fight for Israel Adesanya in years

It’s no doubt that people have started talking about Israel Adesanya making a return, but not on pay-per-view. Instead, he’s competing in a Fight Night event, and that too, in a non-title fight. It’s the first time in six years that we’re witnessing the middleweight champion being out of ‘Izzy’s reach, which can only mean that he’s probably getting demoted after two back-to-back title fight losses.

Israel Adesanya has been a star for Dana White’s promotion while Jon Jones and Conor McGregor were away, but things could be coming to an end for the former 2-time middleweight champion. Keeping that in mind, we move to the next reason why it may be the end of the road for Adesanya, which is the emergence of new top contenders.

New Middleweight contenders climbing up the ranks

Something that will never change is new fighters coming into the fray in the UFC. At one point, Israel Adesanya had defeated almost everyone in the top five of the middleweight rankings, but now, the scenery has changed and fighters like Khamzat Chimaev and Israel Adesanya’s next opponent, Nassourdine Imavov, are making their ascension into the rankings.

Although Israel Adesanya is still ranked second in the rankings currently, a loss this weekend could dramatically change and that could, in turn, help other fights make it to the top five. This is especially the case for Caio Borralho, who holds the sixth spot. Even though Adesanya appears to be confident about his chances, he’ll have to be on his A-game so that he doesn’t lose his spot to the other up-and-comers.

Well, it will all come down to what happens this weekend at UFC Fight Night 250 as fans wait to see if this weekend really marks the end of Israel Adesanya’s prime years as a fighter. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.