Athletes
For Farès Ziam, Saturday Is All That Matters
Streaking French Lightweight Focused On Next Win, Not Winning Streak
Shortly after Farès Ziam pushed his winning streak to six with a second-round stoppage win over Nazim Sadykhov at UFC 323 in Las Vegas, he was having dinner with his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, and asked him whether he thought it would be a good idea to head out to Denver, Colorado, in order to help Justin Gaethje prepare for his upcoming interim lightweight title fight against Paddy Pimblett.
The only shared connection between the two was Abdelaziz, who also manages Gaethje, but Ziam was curious about how they did things at Trevor Wittman’s invite-only facility outside of the Colorado capital and thought he could be a good addition to Gaethje’s camp given his size and skill profile. Abdelaziz made some calls, Ziam got the green light, and off he went to spend six weeks helping “The Highlight” get ready for UFC 324.
“It was a great experience for me,” Ziam said. “I was glad to be a part of this moment for Justin and the gym. I learned so many details, so many things; I grew up, and I leveled up.
“Honestly, Trevor has experience that not many coaches have training so many champions, so for me, he’s one of the greatest of the world, so I go there to learn some details for my fight, but also to acclimate. I love the atmosphere of Denver, the mountains; it’s more natural than Vegas or something like that. Also, the gym is very good — it’s private, not too many people, and we have everything to perform. It’s like a mini-UFC Performance Institute.”
In addition to the elite training and instruction Ziam received during his two visits to the nondescript facility stationed about 30 minutes outside of town, the ranked lightweight got a public shout-out from Gaethje following his UFC 324 win.
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Stationed at the dais after beating Pimblett and claiming interim gold for the second time, Gaethje sang the praises of his imported training partner, declaring that Ziam was a championship-level talent and someone who would be competing with the best the lightweight division has to offer in the very near future.
Despite his six-fight winning streak and position in the rankings, few people seem to look at Ziam in that way. Instead, he’s typically been the overlooked up-and-comer in the division, passed over by louder, more forward-focused competitors that either have a larger social media presence, have been afforded greater opportunities or some combination of the two.
But when an all-time great who is universally respected singles you out by name in front of a captive media audience, it tends to resonate a little more and carry more weight for the emerging 29-year-old than if the fans and media were behind him in even greater force.
“It’s very good to hear that because it’s a guy I know for six weeks, because in MMA and combat sports it’s very,” started Ziam, pausing to find the right wording. “You don’t do that with a lot of people. He prepared for a big fight to be UFC interim champion — he let me come, let me help him, just because he trusts our manager. To hear that from a guy who just beat Paddy Pimblett, it was good. What is better is that it’s Justin Gaethje.”
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Despite Gaethje’s ringing endorsement, Ziam’s return to action this week doesn’t come against one of the 13 athletes stationed ahead of him in the rankings, but rather against Tom Nolan, a Dana White’s Contender Series grad from Brisbane, Australia, currently riding a four-fight winning streak.
While he was admittedly hopeful to face a ranked opponent this time around after earning an impressive finish last time out, the level-headed Ziam has no issue sharing the Octagon with the 26-year-old “Big Train” on Saturday.
“After my last fight, I was thinking about a ranked guy, but after I saw a lot of people have fights in my division — all the ranked guys have fights, me no fight, it’s okay to fight Tom,” Ziam said. “He’s a good guy, good fighter, very dangerous, so I’m focused on that. I have nothing to lose because I’m going to make my mark.”
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The pairing is an intriguing one because it affords each man an important opportunity in the talent-rich lightweight ranks.
For Nolan, he gets a chance to test himself against a ranked opponent, something he admitted he wasn’t expecting before getting the call to face Ziam and show that he’s ready to hang with the absolute best in the weight class despite being at the outset of his third year on the UFC roster.
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For the ranked French hopeful, it’s an opportunity to show that he’s further ahead than his Australian foe and merits a date with someone else sporting a number next to their name later this year. But that’s not something Ziam is thinking about as he readies to head back into battle this weekend.
“First, I beat Tom Nolan, and I focus on that,” he said. “I’m here to fight Saturday; I’m not here to fight in three months, in Paris, or whatever. I’m here to fight Saturday, so I’m focused on Saturday.
“When I fight, I don’t think about my win streak. I need to think (about it) a little bit because it’s the biggest win streak in the division, but for me, each new fight, you need to win; the win streak is the past. Focus on Saturday and go and win; that’s it. I need to be free in the cage, do whatever I want. I need to follow the game plan, but we can do whatever I want.”
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If he’s able to execute and dispatch Nolan, Ziam has some names in mind he plans on calling out, but even that possibility isn’t something he’s ready to fully entertain just yet.
“Yeah, but I need to do that Saturday first,” he said when asked about his call-out list. “I think he’s going to come at 200 percent, but I’m going to come at 100 and focused.”
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