He is French and his name is Nassourdine Imavov.
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, the former kid from the distant steppes of Central Asia will face American Phil Hawes for the most important fight of his nascent career.
Arrived in France at the age of 9, the man (24) is from Dagestan, a Russian federated republic on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
"I left early," recalls the fighter from Las Vegas, the capital of MMA.
The memories I keep are those of a beautiful, mountainous country where wrestling is king.
There, everyone practices it.
Or at least practiced it because this sport is gradually replaced by MMA which is more and more popular there.
"
He landed in Paris in the unknown
Nassourdine Imavov (1m91, 83kg), however, did not do his ranges with one or the other.
It was boxing that brought him to sport and fighting.
“I started boxing when I arrived in France with my family in Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), he confides.
I must have been 10 years old.
And then quite quickly, I discovered MMA which remains a very recent sport.
It's a discipline that is about my age.
Like all those who practice, I liked the palette he offers: boxing, wrestling.
All combat sports are represented there.
And you will understand, I love combat sports ”.
The Sniper is satisfied with his caliber 🧨 @ imavov1 is well below his weight markers, he maintains his energy levels at the highest levels 🤩 and is already impatient to get into the cage‼ ️J-2️⃣ pic.twitter.com / wcbBaCjrMg
- MMA FACTORY PARIS (@mmafactory_fr) February 18, 2021
Discovering MMA is good.
Wanting to become a champion is something else.
But Nassourdine has will.
At 19, he made a funny decision: “I wanted to go to Paris,” he says.
One day, I left with my brother with a simple bag.
I did not know Paris, I had never been there.
I didn't know anyone, I didn't even know where to stay.
But I knew on the other hand that if I wanted to break into MMA, this is where I had to come.
This is where it happens, especially for our sport. ”
In Paris, there is a temple of this sport: Fernand Lopez's MMA Factory, where Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, the two best French fighters in heavyweights, have passed.
If in France, we want to become a great Mixed Martial Arts, we must cross this door one day or another.
READ ALSO>
MMA fights in France: six things to know about the discipline
5 years ago, the young Imavov already knew this.
After a simple phone call to the master of the place, the young man presented himself in this room in the 12th arrondissement of the capital: “No one was expecting me,” the fighter continues.
No one knew who I was, where I was from, what I was worth.
So I had to prove myself, show what I had in my stomach.
Fernand
(Lopez)
looked at me and then, after some practice, he asked me what I wanted.
I said: I want to be an MMA pro, be a champion and join the UFC.
»The UFC?
It is the great world federation of this sport, the powerful American league which reigns over MMA with the best fighters on the planet.
He is barely 20 years old and the young boy from Dagestan wants to join the stars, the big American theaters and Las Vegas, the world capital of MMA.
VIDEO. We attended the first MMA gala in France
Today the dream has come true.
This week, Imavov is in Nevada town where the UFC rolled out the red carpet for him, just six months after joining the league.
The rise in average weight (-84kg) is dazzling, impressive.
“I don't know what the UFC expects from me,” he said.
I imagine if they put me on an “event” schedule in Las Vegas, they'll count on me and think I can do something.
On the other hand, I know what I want to show them: all my determination.
"
