After his win at UFC Paris, is a title shot next for Nassourdine Imavov?

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Paris, we saw a pivotal matchup in the middleweight division that potentially had title implications. Top contender Nassourdine Imavov (17-4) took on surging top contender Caio Borralho (17-2).

Entering this matchup, Borralho was the betting favorite despite the fact that Imavov was the top ranked contender in the division. I personally picked Borralho because of his ability to mix things up really well, but Imavov proved me wrong in this fight.

Imavov’s speed is something that I underestimated. Borralho decided to strike with Imavov throughout this fight and Imavov did a great job of just beating him to the punch. It wasn’t the most thrilling fight in the world in terms of a ton of massive shots landing, but Imavov was technical and precise throughout the five rounds.

In the end, it was a lopsided decision win for Imavov at UFC Paris where he won all five rounds on one scorecard and he won four rounds on the other two judges cards.

Is a title shot next after UFC Paris?

On paper, this had the makings of a title eliminator just a few weeks ago. Imavov and Borralho were the top two contenders in my book and they just fought in a five round main event. However, a couple of weeks ago, Dana White announced that Reinier De Ridder and Anthony Hernandez are headlining UFC Vancouver next month.

White said that the two main events had to happen first and then a decision would be made in terms of the next challenger for Khamzat Chimaev. Unfortunately for Imavov, I think the winner of next month’s fight is the favorite at this point.

Imavov has been great, but the UFC will likely pick the winner of the more exciting fight and I think Fluffy Hernandez against RDR is going to get wild and crazy with the winner likely putting a stamp on their performance. That might carry them over the top.

Imavov absolutely deserves a title shot after his last three wins came against Borralho, Israel Adesanya, and Jared Cannonier. I’m just not convinced he will get the next shot.

If he’s not the next challenger, he’ll likely be the backup fighter and honestly, I wouldn’t rule out him sitting out until he gets a title shot. Should he decided to take another fight in the interim, I think the only fights that could make sense are a rematch with Sean Strickland or a fight with former champion Dricus Du Plessis.