In Dana White‘s promotion’s only second visit to Louisville, Kentucky, fans witnessed a rather usual ending to the main event between Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov. And what was that unusual ending? Well, it was a controversial stoppage of the fight by the referee in the fourth round. Although fans were upset about it, it was certainly a great outing for Imavov, who got a shout-out from the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.

Nassourdine Imavov desperately needed a win to further his intentions of getting a title shot. He did just that, but fans seem to be angry with how he won. Imavov rattled Cannonier in the fourth round and the former title challenge was on the back foot, but still trying to get a hold of himself. However, Jason Herzog believed he saw enough to stop it. Despite what fans had to say, Islam Makachev may be looking at it in a different manner.

Islam Makhachev delighted with Nassourdine Imavov’s win

Before moving to France with his family, Nassourdine Imavov stayed in Dagestan, in Khasavyurt, to be exact. It was later when he was a boy that he moved to the commune in France, which was about 32 miles away from Marseille, in Salon-de-Provence. There, he found his mojo and interest in MMA and later moved to Paris to realize his dream. But it all started in Dagestan and Islam Makhachev remembers that.

Islam Makhachev, his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and his team are all about supporting fighters who are connected to their motherland in Dagestan. As such, even though the win was controversial, the lightweight champion shared a post regarding Nassourdine Imavov’s win over Jared Cannonier on his Instagram stories.

Following the slew of critical comments thrown at Jason Herzog regarding the controversial stoppage, the referee would break silence over it and would promise to ‘re-evaluate’ his decision. Meanwhile, Nassourdine Imavov would also share his thoughts on the win, which was greeted with jeers from the crowd at the KFC Yum! Center.

Imavov claims Cannonier took “a lot of damage”

Fans may see something wrong with Jason Herzog’s decision, but Nassourdine Imavov doesn’t think so. He believes that the referee did the right thing because as far as he observed, Jared Cannonier was in a bad spot, and if not for the referee, things could have gotten even worse for ‘The Killa Gorilla’. As such, he doesn’t see any referring error as most fans on social media claim it to be.

“Absolutely not [a bad stoppage]. It’s the job of the referee to decide if the fighter is about to keep going or not. He already took a lot of damage… [he’d have taken] even more if the fight continued. So I think it was the right decision to stop it,” said Nassourdine Imavov in the post-fight pressers. Now, Cannonier may have to go to the back of the line while the French national could be fighting some top contenders soon.

What do you make of Islam Makhachev’s gesture towards Nassourdine Imavov? Let us know in the comments down below.