Nassourdine Imavov and Ciryl Gane Sparring

Nassourdine lmavov is looking dangerous Strickland outpointed Imavov on the scorecards back in January 2023, but the Frenchman has looked unstoppable since then, stacking up five consecutive victories to muscle his way back into contention. Among them: a brutal TKO over Israe Adesanya and a grueling decision win against Caio Borralho that locked in his second crack at the belt.And there's real venom behind this matchup. Imavov says Strickland branded him a terrorist during fight week for the Khamzat Chimaev event while the champ has openly admitted he iust can't stand the guy. Strickland snatched the UFC middleweiaht title back from Chimaev at UFC 328 in May 2026, grinding out a nail-biting split decision to ioin the two-time champions club. Now the belt is on the line once more as he faces Imavov at UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas - finally settling one of MMA's nastiest personal feuds.