UFC Saudi Arabia: Matches to make for ‘Adesanya vs. Imavov’ main card winners

UFC Saudi Arabia went down this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 1, 2025) inside and Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on ESPN+. The main event saw Nassourdine Imavov dramatically knockout former Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya (see it again here). In the co-headlining act, Michael Page upset Shara Magomedov, handing him his first-ever professional mixed martial arts (MMA) loss, defeating him via unanimous decision.

Winner: Nassourdine Imavov
Who He Should Face Next: Khamzat Chimaev

After racking up the biggest win of his career, Imavov called for a title shot against the winner of the upcoming championship rematch between Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland. The only problem there is that Chimaev has also made a strong case for himself by breaking Robert Whittaker’s jaw, and he’s ranked higher at the moment. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the promotion decides to book a title eliminator between Chimaev and Imaov next. It makes sense.

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Winner: Michael Page
Who He Should Face Next: Kamaru Usman

After upsetting Magomedov in his Middleweight debut, Page revealed that he’d be dropping back down to Welterweight to take care of business. While he didn’t specify what business exactly, I wouldn’t mind seeing him face off against Usman next. “The Nigerian Nightmare” is still ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds despite losing three straight. That said, it’s a good fight because, honestly, the former champion doesn’t have much bargaining power at the moment to be asking for other fights because of his streak. It’s just a fun fight that can push Page into the Top 10 right away and closer to a title shot sooner rather than later.

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Winner: Sergei Pavlovich
Who He Should Face Next: Jailton Almeida

The one fight no one expected to go the distance ended up being a 15-minute snoozefest. Pavlovich will get the chance in earn a potential knockout — or get knocked out — in his next outing if he gets paired up against Almeida, who is on a two-fight win streak and 8-1 overall inside the Octagon. Almeida — ranked No. 6 — is coming off a technical knockout win over Serghei Spivak at UFC 311 (watch it).

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Winner: Vinicius Oliveira
Who He Should Face Next: Daniel Marcos

Oliveira collected consecutive win No. 5, out-classing Said Nurmagomedov for 15 minutes, further making his case for a future ranking spot. I would love to see a fight between he and Marcos, who is undefeated (17-0-1), which includes going 4-0-1 inside the Octagon. Marcos is fresh off a big split decision win over Adrian Yanez late last year, so he is riding high with confidence.

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Winner: Fares Ziam
Who He Should Face Next: Thiago Moises

Ziam secured his fifth straight win with a unanimous decision victory over Mike Davis in the opening fight of the main card. And now the streaking 155-pound contender is looking to make even more noise in his next fight on his quest to a Top 15 ranking. A fight against Moises — who is coming off a win over Trey Ogden and is 4-2 in his last six fights inside the Octagon — sounds appealing.

For complete UFC Saudi Arabia results, coverage and highlights click HERE.