TOPSHOT – Nassourdine Imavov celebrates after defeating Israel Adesanya in their men’s middleweight fight during the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night 250 in Riyadh on February 1, 2025. (Photo by Fayez NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Following a one-week break in its schedule, the UFC is back on Saturday, September 6, with the UFC Paris fight card. This year marks the fight promotion’s fourth annual trip to Paris, France. Headlining the UFC Fight Night event on ESPN+ is an important middleweight contest between top-10-ranked combatants Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho. UFC Paris takes place at Accor Arena.
UFC Paris Main Card
Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho
Benoît Saint Denis vs. Maurício Ruffy
Bolaji Oki vs. Mason Jones
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig
Patrício Pitbull vs. Losene Keita
UFC Paris Preliminary Card
William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchała
Oumar Sy vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija
Rhys McKee vs. Axel Sola
Sam Patterson vs. Trey Waters
Brad Tavares vs. Robert Bryczek
Andreas Gustafsson vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
The UFC Paris main card begins at 3:00 p.m. ET and streams on ESPN+. The prelims kick off at noon ET on the same streaming service.
UFC Paris Main Event: Nassourdine Imavov
PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 28: Nassourdine Imavov of Russia prepares to face Brendan Allen in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at The Accor Arena on September 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
Nassourdine Imavov (16-4-0-1) was 8-2 when he first fought for the UFC. That bout came in October 2020, and he won a decision over Jordan Williams. Imavov went 3-1 in his next four UFC outings. In January 2023, Imavov was booked to face Kelvin Gastelum, but that fight fell apart when Gastelum withdrew. Sean Strickland stepped in on short notice to keep the fight, which was to be the main event, on the card. The only stipulation was that the meeting was to take place at light heavyweight. Strickland picked up a unanimous decision win in that scrap.
Imavov has fought four times since then. In June 2023 he faced Strickland’s teammate Chris Curtis at UFC 289, but that fight ended in a no contest when a clash of heads left Curtis unable to continue. Then, in February of this year, Imavov defeated Roman Dolidze by majority decision in a main event scrap on a UFC Fight Night card.
In June 2024, the 29-year-old scored a TKO win over former UFC middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier in the main event of a June Fight Night card in Louisville.
Imavov took the best that Jared Cannonier had to offer in the first three rounds of their UFC Louisville main event and was in the process of turning the tables on the former UFC middleweight title challenger when referee Jason Herzog waved off the fight in the fourth stanza and awarded the victory to Imavov.
Cannonier’s game plan was a good one, but his approach of using leg kicks to slow his opponent and pick up control time against the cage didn’t work. Yes, the leg kicks scored for Cannonier, but they didn’t deter Imavov, who was mounting a comeback after falling behind 29-29 on two scorecards heading into the fourth round.
Before the fight was waved off, Imavov had honed in on Cannonier’s range and timing. He landed 60 percent of his significant strikes in the second round, 65 percent in the third, and 73 percent in the fourth before Herzog stopped the fight.
After his win over Cannonier, Imavov called for a matchup against former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. He did not get his wish. Instead, Imavov faced Brendan Allen in the co-main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Paris. Imavov won that contest via unanimous decision.
Imavov added another win to his record, perhaps the biggest victory of his UFC career, when he defeated ex-UFC champ Israel Adesanya via TKO in February. That stoppage has Imavov as the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings.
UFC Paris Main Event: Caio Borralho
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 24: Caio Borralho of Brazil reacts after his victory against Jared Cannonier in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 24, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
Caio Borralho (17-1-0-1) was 8-1-0-1 when he fought on the Dana White Contender Series in September 2021. A member of the rising “Fighting Nerds” team, Borralho picked up a decision win in that middleweight contest, but he did not earn a contract from Dana White. On October 19, Borralho gave the DWCS another shot, this time at light heavyweight. His first-round TKO win earned him a deal that night.
Borralho dropped back to 185 pounds for his UFC debut in April 2011. He scored a technical decision win in that scrap, the fight ended early after Borralho landed an illegal knee that left his opponent unable to continue. Borralho was deducted one point for the illegal blow.
Since that win, the 31-year-old Borralho has faced tougher competition in every outing. In May 2024, he dispatched Paul Craig via second-round knockout. Borralho followed that stoppage with a decision win over ex-UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier in his first UFC main event outing. The five-round battle earned the competitors “Fight of the Night” honors.
Borralho enters Saturday’s fight card as the No. 7 ranked UFC middleweight.
We will have more on the UFC Paris fight card as fight night nears, including betting odds, picks, predictions and more. As well as full fight card results, reactions and highlights on fight night.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trentreinsmith/2025/09/01/ufc-paris-imavov-vs-borralho-full-fight-card/
