Jared Cannonier slams referee's "gut-wrenching" stoppage in Nassourdine Imavov fight: "The opportunity to do great things was stolen from me"

UFC middleweight star Jared Cannonier had his momentum cut short via an upset loss to Nassourdine Imavov last weekend at UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs Imavov. A win over Imavov would have given Cannonier his third straight victory, putting him in world title conversations again. Imavov had other plans, however, as he finished the American early in the fourth round.

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Despite looking like he was visibly hurt by the massive right hand by Imavov, Jared Cannonier was very much upset with the stoppage, telling Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour:

"What had happened was gut-wrenching, to say the least. I definitely took my time to recollect myself. I had to go back and rewatch the fight and really relive the whole thing all over again. It was really gut-wrenching because the opportunity to do great things was pretty much stolen from me."

Watch the full statement here as posted by Championship rounds on X:

Jared Cannonier on Imavov loss: "It doesn't feel like I lost the fight"

Continuing his assessment of the stoppage, Jared Canonnier told Ariel Helwani:

"As fighters, you know, we win or we lose and then we have to live with it. It's definitely not fun, it doesn't get any easier every time. But it doesn't feel like I lost the fight, I just feel like it was stolen from me. I mean, the opportunity to persevere, which is one thing I've done in a lot of my fights, and continue on and try to make good on the fight. Gut-wrenching is an understatement."

Though one could argue that Jared Cannonier was out on his feet, others can also make a case that he was still standing and intelligently moving away from danger. Although the TKO finish will stand as a win on Nassourdine Imavov's record, it did rob both him and Cannonier of a definitive ending to their otherwise highly competitive fight.