What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 250 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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5. Vinicius Oliveira is the real deal
Vinicius Oliveira showed again that his hype is no joke against a legit and dangerous Said Nurmagomedov.
After a shaky first round, Oliveira (22-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) turned the momentum around to win the second and third to claim a unanimous decision. He did it with a pre-fight rib injury, as well, but managed to overcome it and beat an opponent who was clearly there to win.
Although Oliveira is best known for the all-time flying knee knockout he delivered in his 2024 debut, his past two wins are actually more impressive. Nurmagomedov and Ricky Simon, whom he beat in June, are proven names in an endlessly deep bantamweight division. Getting those victories in consecutive bouts is telling of Oliveira’s potential.
Oliveira’s aggression and durability is going to prove problematic for a lot of fighters at 135 pounds. Whether or not it’s enough to take him to the title without refining things is the ultimate question, but his post-fight callout of Umar Nurmagomedov is telling of his confidence.
4. Sergei Pavlovich bounces back, but fails to impress
Just 14 months ago a strong argument could be made that Sergei Pavlovich is the scariest fighter in the heavyweight division. That feels like a lot longer ago than it was.
After having his record-setting first-round knockout streak halted by Tom Aspinall in November 2023, many wondered how Pavlovich (18-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) would respond. He had the excuse of it being on short notice and against perhaps the best in the world in Aspinall, but then in his next fight against Alexander Volkov in June, he just didn’t look the same.
There was a belief the Volkov performance might’ve been hindered by their history as training partners and acquaintances. But then he came in to face another ex-gym mate in Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and although he got the unanimous decision nod, he just doesn’t appear to carry the same self-confidence as he did on his run up.
It’s not time to write Pavlovich off just yet. Perhaps these past three fights can be summed up to strange circumstances and it played out in an unideal way. It would be be nice to see him thrown in there against an opponent he has no ties with and high stakes, and if Pavlovich flounders there as well, then it’s time to have a more difficult conversation.
3. Michael Page should stay at middleweight
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Throw anyone within a 30-pound range of Michael Page into the octagon with him for an essentially all-striking affair, and there’s a good chance he’s going to win, and perhaps even dominate.
Do it against someone who is taking a sizable step up in competition like what Shara Magomedov experienced against MVP? Then you get a fairly one-sided fight, such as we got in Page’s unanimous decision victory in the co-main event.
This result doesn’t really mean much in the career of Page (23-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC). It’s a nice UFC win for his resume, but he moved up to middleweight for this and it appears that’s not going to be his home moving forward. He intends to return to the welterweight division, where he is going to head back into a shark tank of fighters, many of whom are superior grapplers to himself.
You can make an argument Page might be better off staying at 185 pounds. In fact, that’s what I’m presenting here. Does beating Magomedov tell us he can be a title contender? Not really, as the Russian is undersized himself for the division. However, there’s more style-friendly matchups for Page at middleweight, and there’s a strong case his run to the top is no shorter than it would be elsewhere.
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2. Nassourdine Imavov gets his moment
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Nassourdine Imavov will still unfortunately fall behind in the headlines to Israel Adesanya despite scoring the biggest win of his career in the main event. It’s going to happen in this very column, but at least we can be upfront about it.
Imavov (16-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has been flying under the radar in the middleweight division for a little too long, but he changed his fortunes in a big way when he halted Adesanya with a second-round knockout. He puts the former UFC champ and future UFC Hall of Famer on his resume alongside names like Brendan Allen, Jared Cannonier, Roman Dolidze and Joaquin Buckley.
Some might try to discredit this moment down the line by reflection on where Adesanya was in his career when it happened. But that doesn’t matter. We need to appreciate it as a still significant moment in him being the first to ever beat Adesanya in a non-title MMA fight. That’s a hell of an achievement, and he needs to reap the rewards by getting a firm position in title contention.
I don’t see it as likely that it happens before Khamzat Chimaev gets his chance at the Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland winner next week at UFC 312, but he’s in a enviable spot.
1. The end of Israel Adesanya’s title relevance
Israel Adesanya somewhat forecasted questions about his potential demise when he said at media day on Wednesday that his legacy would go unaffected no matter how many losses he takes in a row going forward.
The skid now sits at a career-worst three consecutive fights, and already questions about what this downturn, which includes four defeats in his past five overall dating back to November 2022, means for the outlook on his career.
Context is always important, and Adesanya’s defeats came against Strickland and Du Plessis, who as previously mentioned meet for the belt next week, and now Imavov. This one is particularly notable, however, because it was the first time in Adesanya’s entire MMA career that he’s lost a non-title bout.
Adesanya has been magical in the UFC and given us tremendous moments. But with so many fights and miles on his body, and his 36th birthday coming this summer, this defeat could be examined as a true turning point away from contention.
It’s too soon to have the retirement conversation for Adesanya. If he wants to give that a look for himself then that’s completely within his rights, but there are still winnable fights for him in the middleweight division. But to what degree in competition he wants to downgrade himself is what is ultimately going to determine if he can get his hand raised again.
This felt like the official end point of putting Adesanya in any proximity to a UFC championship. Now it’s a question of how many, and if any, more high points he can rack up along the way.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 250.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Fight Night 250 takeaways: An end point for Israel Adesanya and an argument for MVP to stay at 185
