What’s next for Nassourdine Imavov and Jared Cannonier after UFC Louisville?

In the main event of UFC Louisville, ranked middleweights threw down as Nassourdine Imavov took on Jared Cannonier.

Imavov entered the fight with a record of 13-4 and one No Contest and was coming off a majority decision win over Roman Dolidze. The Frenchman was ranked seventh at middleweight and was 5-2 and one No Contest going into the fight. Cannonier, meanwhile, was ranked fourth and was coming off a decision win over Marvin Vettori a year ago.

Ultimately, in the end, it was Imavov who won by fourth-round stoppage in controversial fashion as many thought it was an early stoppage by Jason Herzog. Following UFC Louisville, here is what I think should be next for both fighters involved in the main event.

Nassourdine Imavov

Nassourdine Imavov picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday as he stopped Jared Cannonier in the fourth round, but it has come with plenty of controversy.

Imavov and Cannonier were having a competitive fight and he had the ‘Kilal Gorilla’ hurt but Herzog appeared to step in early. Since the fight, Cannonier has called for an immediate rematch and has said the UFC is interested in that. To me, a rematch should be next to headline UFC Paris.

But, if Imavov rejects a rematch, a fight against Marvin Vettori makes sense as the rest of the middleweight division is booked, and he is the next highest-ranked guy.

Jared Cannonier

Jared Cannonier was frustrated with the stoppage at UFC Lousiville as he has the right to be. Cannonier was up on two of the three judges’ scorecards going into the fourth round, and although he was on his way to losing that round, it would have been even going into the final round.

Cannonier should get the rematch with Imavov and has called for it to headline Paris as going into enemy territory for the events main event makes sense. If Imavov doesn’t want the rematch, a fight against Paulo Costa makes sense as both appear to be on the outside looking in for title contention, but both remain big names.