Nassourdine Imavov is eager to avenge a prior loss to Sean Strickland, but says his rival is doing his best everything he can to avoid it.

Strickland stepped in to fight Imavov up at light-heavyweight on short notice back in January of 2023, and emerged victorious via unanimous decision.

Later that year Strickland would go on to briefly win the middleweight title, and while he’s no longer champion he is coming off a TKO victory over another leading contender in Anthony Hernandez just last weekend.

As for Imavov, he is on the verge of title contention after going 5-0 (+1nc) since then to reach No.2 in the rankings, but he’s still all-in on running back the fight with Strickland, insisting that it would go much differently down at 185lbs with a full training camp to prepare for him.

“Of course he’s ducking,” Imavov told Championship Rounds. ”He’s ready to get choked [by Khamzat], that’s not painful… He’s not ready to get destroyed and end up with a bloodied face. I’ve been asking for him to the UFC for two years now, even after KO-ing Adesanya. Everything will be different [in the rematch]. In the right weight class, with a proper camp for facing him, he’ll end up unconscious.”

The No.3 ranked Strickland has since responded to Imavov’s call-out, but it doesn’t sound like he’s interested in it right now, instead predicting that one of them will be next up to fight current champion Khamzat Chimaev for the title.

“Listen dude, I’ve moved past you, I’ve beat you, relax,” Strickland said on Full Send in reference to Imavov. “Either you get the belt or I get the belt. Once you get the belt, I’ll take it from you. Once I get the belt, you’ll lose to me”.