Fueled by an explosive Paris crowd, one of France's adopted MMA sons appears to have placed himself into the driver's seat for the next shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Nassourdine Imavov (17-4) stuffed all five takedown attempts and put on a master class in striking and defense en route to a unanimous decision win (50-45, 49-46 twice) in the main event of UFC Fight Night from Accor Arena.

The win was the fifth straight for Imavov, a 30-year-old native of Russia who moved to France at age four, and snapped the 17-fight unbeaten streak of Caio Borralho (17-2, 1 NC), which dated back to 2015.

In a crowded 185-pound title picture, UFC CEO Dana White had previously announced that Imavov-Borralho and the Oct. 14 headliner between Reiner de Ridder and Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez would produ

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