The UFC returned to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with an exciting 11-fight card that landed in the morning and early afternoon for fans in North America thanks to international time zones.

Headlining honors for the card went to a clash of middleweight contenders, with former champ Israel Adesanya looking to rebound from back-to-back losses to Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland opposite the dangerous Nassourdine Imavov.

The co-main event was also contended at middleweight, as former Bellator welterweight champ Michael "Venom" Page hiked up a division to fight fellow striking whiz Shara "Bullet" Magomedov.

Before we got to the middleweight fights, we were treated to a clash of heavyweight knockout artists, as Sergei Pavlovich took on Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The remainder of the card, meanwhile, was packed with talent from around the Middle East, Russia, and even farther afield.

Keep scrolling for the full results of the card, and a tally of the real winners and losers of the day.

Winner: New Blood at Middleweight

Nassourdine Imavov picked up the biggest win of his career in the UFC Fight Night 250 main event, flooring former champ Israel Adesanya with a right hand, and finishing him off with an uppercut and a volley of punches on the ground. It was a shock, given Adesanya's tremendous legacy in both MMA and kickboxing, but here we are.

Under slightly different circumstances, Imavov would probably be looking at a title shot right now. Unfortunately, the next shot at champ Dricus Du Plessis is going to Sean Strickland, and Khamzat Chimaev is probably next in line after that. One way or the other, the Russian-born Frenchman is entering his prime, and is one of the top middleweights in the world.

It would have been difficult to imagine a few years ago, but that may no longer be the case for Adesanya. "The Last Stylebender" has now lost three fights in a row, and two of those by stoppage. This latest defeat was the worst of the bunch. It's certainly possible he'll bounce back, but after such a rough skid, it's going to take some serious doing.

Whatever the future holds, we're seeing a changing of the guard at middleweight. Adesanya has been displaced by the likes of Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, and now Imavov. His contemporary and long-time rival Robert Whittaker, meanwhile, was recently mauled by Chimaev.

It's a story as old as time but it never gets less shocking to see once dominant fighters start taking brutal losses.

Winner: Middleweight "Venom"

The UFC Fight Night 250 co-main event saw striking specialists Shara "Bullet" Magomedov and Michael "Venom" Page collide in an excellent middleweight matchup. It was expected to be a display of elite striking — and it was — but not quite in the way most expected.

Page, who was coming up a weight class from welterweight, completely outclassed his undefeated opponent throughout their three-round fight. He was completely unpredictable in the Octagon, mixing in a range of strikes and moving in a way that no other fighter does. Magomedov was mesmerized, and on the rare occasions he did throw with intention, Page was nowhere to be found.

It reaffirmed that Page is easily one of the best strikers competing in MMA today. It also proved that he is big enough to compete at middleweight. He might even be better suited for this weight class, where he is likely to have a speed advantage against most opponents without being undersized.

It remains to be seen if he stays in the weight class, but if he does, there are some great fights to be made for him. Who wouldn't like to see him mix it up with another karate specialist like Robert Whittaker?

Loser: Changing Things Up

It's always great to see seemingly one-dimensional fighters mix things up. That's what we got from hulking heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich in the middle bout of the UFC Fight Night 250 main card.

Pavlovich, who is easily one of the most physically imposing men in the UFC, is known for his ferocious knockout power and terrifying aggression. However, after a knockout loss to Tom Aspinall and a frustrating decision defeat against Alexander Volkov, he comes into his Saturday showdown with Jairzinho Rozenstruik with an unusual game plan.

Instead of charging forward and trying to take Rozenstruik's head off, he was tentative, and even mixed in a few takedowns through the three-round fight. While the strategy ended up earning him a sorely needed unanimous decision win, it sure wasn't pretty. It was arguably the most forgettable performance of his UFC career. What made it truly frustrating was that he probably could have stopped Rozenstruik if he had just been slightly more aggressive. He landed clean on him a few times, but each time, he either let up or shot for a takedown. Rozenstruik also offered almost nothing in the way of return fire.

Again, it's nice to see Pavlovich experimenting and evolving, but it seemed like a bit of a miscalculation. His usual style probably would have served him way better. It might have even earned him a bonus.

Loser: The Wrong Gameplan

The UFC Fight Night 250 main card was kicked off by a lightweight scrap between Mike Davis and Fares Ziam. On paper, it was one of the most alluring fights on the lineup.

It lived up to expectations, but not in the way most people expected. Most fans anticipated a striking clash between the two lightweights, but instead, Davis was determined to do his fighting on the ground and actually pulled guard multiple times in the fight, which we seldom see in the Octagon.

It made for entertaining viewing, but it seemed like the wrong strategy from Davis, who is an excellent boxer with solid power. It was downright bizarre. While he threatened with a couple of submissions on the mat, he spent a lot of the fight underneath his opponent and ended up taking a bad cut on his brow and leaking blood all over the Octagon — neither of which looks good in the eyes of the judges. That's probably a big part of the reason he ended up losing a unanimous decision after three rounds. That's not to say he would have won if he had decided to strike with Ziam, but grappling wasn't the move.

One way or the other, it was a good night for Ziam, who has now won five straight fights, and could be looking at a ranked opponent very soon.

Loser: Unranked Heavyweights

Did you know Paul Felder enjoys paprika? If you tuned in for the opening bout of the UFC Fight Night 250 broadcast, now you do.

The first fight of the night was contested at heavyweight, where unranked prospects Hamdy Abdelwahab and Jamal Pogues collided in hopes of taking a step up the ladder. It was an undeniably tedious watch, to the point that Felder and his fellow commentators Laura Sanko and John Gooden had so little to talk about that they began discussing spices in the second round. Garlic also got a mention. This isn't a criticism. There were points in the fight where neither guy did much of anything for the better part of a minute. Digressions about things like spices were pretty much unavoidable.

Unfortunately, this is par for the course when it comes to unranked heavyweights. While the division sometimes delivers unforgettable knockouts, it also gives us some truly forgettable fights — and this was one of them.

At least Abdelwahab seemed to know it.

After winning a dubious split decision, the Egyptian told Felder he was "so nervous" heading into the fight, which was his first in about two years.

"I've had better performances," he said, before promising his next fight will be better.

The Egyptian seems like a pretty nice guy, and at 32, still has plenty of upside despite his performance in Saudi Arabia, so we'll take his word for it. Onto the next one.

Winner: Team Canada

Canada has quite a legacy in MMA, as the country that gave us Georges St-Pierre, who might just be the best fighter of all time. Unfortunately, Canada has not been much of a player in the sport over the last few years. We've seen a few solid fighters come out of the country, but overall, things have been pretty quiet.

They may finally be changing. While it's unlikely Canada will ever have another Georges St-Pierre, there is at least a Canadian fighter in the official UFC rankings. That would be Jasmine Jasudavicius, who was ranked No. 12 at flyweight heading into her Saturday scrap with former bantamweight title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva.

Jasudavicius ultimately came through as a moderate betting favorite in the fight, dominating the former title challenger for three rounds — and leaving a nasty lump on her head. It was her fourth win in a row after defeats of Ariane Lipski, Fatima Kline, and Priscilla Cachoeira. She's still got some work to do before she earns a title shot — and it's admittedly hard to believe her challenging even an aging version of champ Valentina Shevchenko — but she can probably expect a top-10 opponent next time out.

Not even Canadian welterweight Mike Malott could make it that far, having come up short vs. Neil Magny last year.

Winner: Sticking to the Script

When Terrance McKinney fights, you can be fairly sure things will be over pretty quickly. That's due in part to the fact that he is not the most durable fighter in the world, but also because he is a proven finisher on the feet and the mat. If numbers are your thing, he's suffered first-round stoppages in four of his seven losses and finished 15 of his 16 wins in the first round. That's crazy.

McKinney's 15th first-round stoppage win came on the UFC Fight Night 250 undercard when he took on Damir Hadzovic. After threatening with a guillotine choke in the early going, he finished things off with a torrent of punches from back mount just over two minutes into the fight.

McKinney probably won't ever win the UFC lightweight title. He's just too inconsistent. That being said, you definitely know what you're going to get when he steps into the Octagon: violence, without delay.

Winner: Getting Back to Old Form

By the beginning of last year, Shamil Gaziev looked like he might turn into a title challenger at heavyweight. Unfortunately, 2024 went quite badly for him. First, he suffered his first professional loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who is not much more than a fringe contender at this point. He then managed to bounce back with a win over Don'Tale Mayes in his next fight, but it was a decision victory over a guy he probably should have been able to finish.

Thankfully, Gaziev got back to his old form in Saudi Arabia. The former volleyball player was in action on Saturday's undercard, taking on Thomas Petersen. We talked earlier about how heavyweight fights often end up being stinkers — particularly when the athletes involved aren't ranked. Gaziev's latest win showed us the other side of the heavyweight coin: fight-ending knockout power. The Russian needed just over three minutes to put Petersen down a single right hand.

The knockout made for great viewing, but more importantly, got Gaziev back to where he was the start of last year. Suddenly, he looks like he could make some real noise in the heavyweight division again. It will be interesting to see where he is by year's end.

UFC Fight Night 250 Complete Results

Main Card | 12 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Nassourdine Imavov def. Israel Adesanya via knockout at 0:30 of round two

Michael Page def. Shara Magomedov via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Sergei Pavlovich def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Vinicius Oliveira def. Said Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Fares Ziam def. Mike Davis via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Prelims | 9:00 a.m. ET on ESPN+

Muhammad Naimov def. Kaan Ofli via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Shamil Gaziev def. Thomas Petersen via TKO at 3:12 of round one

Terrance McKinney def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO at 2:01 of round one

Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Mayra Bueno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Bogdan Grad def. Lucas Alexander via TKO at 4:22 of round two

Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Jamal Pogues via split decision (27-30, 29-28 x2)