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History was made on Saturday in Paris, as the UFC held its inaugural event in the French capital, with a dozen pairs of fighters making the walk to the Octagon inside Accor Arena.
The French contingent rose to the occasion, with all five French competitors garnering victories, with heavyweight standout Ciryl Gane sending everyone home in an absolute state after dispatching Tai Tuivasa in a thrilling, back-and-forth battle in the main event.
Ce fut une soirée incroyable dans “La Ville des Lumières!”
Here’s a look at how things went down.
After a patient first round where neither man really let loose, the heavyweights got after it in the second, with each man teetering on the brink of being finished at different points. Both responded and steeled themselves away, with Gane taking control of the action in the latter stages of the round.
In the third, he kept the pressure on, chipping away at the body of the titanium-jawed Tuivasa, causing him to double-over before crashing home a right hand and finishing with a thudding left that ended the night.
Fighting at home for the first time, Gane showed his class, rebounding from his first career loss with a blistering effort to close out the evening.
It was a battle of the top two contenders in the middleweight division in the co-main event, and Robert Whittaker made it clear that he is miles ahead of everyone else chasing championship gold, dominating Marvin Vettori over three rounds.
The former champion was sharp, quick, and varied throughout, stinging Vettori with punches and kicks while deftly maintaining distance when “The Italian Dream” looked to counter. While he couldn’t dispatch Vettori in the allotted 15 minutes — though not for a lack of trying — the outcome was never in question.
Whittaker remains undefeated at middleweight against everyone other than champion Israel Adesanya, getting himself back into the win column while picking up his 24th career victory in the process.
Nassourdine Imavov collected a third straight victory on Saturday night, outlasting an unrelenting Joaquin Buckley in a tremendously entertaining fight.
The middleweight combatants were jawing with each other all week, with Buckley questioning the Russian-born, Paris-based Imavov’s skills, but the MMA Factory product proved to be the superior talent, showcasing the full compliment of his vast arsenal.
Imavov knocked Buckley’s mouthpiece flying from his mouth in the first and dominated on the canvas whenever it got there, doling out damage and dealing with the power that came back his way throughout. Buckley continued pressing in the third, throwing big shots, looking to rally, but Imavov hung tough and countered, earning the clear decision win.
Now 4-1 in the UFC and 12-3 overall, Imavov continues to look like an intriguing ascending name to watch in the 185-pound weight class. The loss snaps Buckley’s three-fight winning streak, with “New Mansa” falling to 5-3 in the UFC and 15-5 overall with the loss.
Roman Kopylov turned in the best performance of his UFC career in Paris, collecting a third-round stoppage win over Italian veteran Alessio Di Chirico.
For the first two rounds, the middleweights battled on in close striking range, exchanges sharp punches and heavy kicks to the body, with Kopylov showing superior speed and diversity. Di Chirico never stopped pressing forward and had successful moments of his own, but early in the third, Kopylov backed him up with a clean right hand.
From there, he swarmed, unleashing a serious of unanswered blows that put Di Chirico face down on the canvas. Kopylov picks up his first UFC victory in three tries and pushes his record to 9-2 in the process, while Di Chirico suffers a second straight stoppage loss and falls to 13-7 overall.
With the win, Gomis pushes his winning streak to nine and his record to 11-2 overall, with Errens falling to 13-4-1 with the loss.
Nathaniel Wood and Charles Jourdain delivered the kind of all-action, entertaining affair everyone expected in the main card opener, with the British fighter securing a unanimous decision victory for his second featherweight win in six weeks.
The well-matched duo spent much of the fight standing on each other’s toes, trading strikes in close, showcasing their Muay Thai and dirty boxing skills. Wood did well to mix in deft foot sweeps and trips in timely moments, grounding the French-Canadian periodically, only for the tandem to get back to their feet and get back to banging on each other.
After nearly two years on the sidelines and a career forged at bantamweight, Wood moved up a division last time out and has now earned consecutive victories, establishing himself as another talented ascending fighter in the 145-pound ranks. For Jourdain, he’s now dropped consecutive decisions in competitive, entertaining bouts, falling to 4-5-1 inside the Octagon.
Hello Abus Magomedov!
The debuting German walked out, touched gloves with Dustin Stoltzfus, hit him with a front kick to the face, and then hammered him with a series of punches, quickly sending him to the Shadow Realm and securing a first-round finish in his UFC debut.
Nasrat Haqparast won the battle between former training partners on Saturday in Paris, out-working veteran John Makdessi over the course of three rounds to get back into the win column.
The lightweights, who used to train alongside one another at Montreal’s Tristar Gym and carried some bad blood into this contest, stood and traded with each other for all 15 minutes, with Haqparast controlling the interacts for the most part. He dropped Makdessi with a short left hand as the Canadian tried a spinning backfist in the second, while working behind a clean, crisp jab for the majority of the first two rounds. Makdessi turned up the pressure and intensity in the third, but couldn’t really do enough to sway the results in his favor.
Haqparast snapped a two-fight skid with the victory, moving to 6-4 through his first 10 UFC starts, and 14-5 overall. Makdessi falls to 11-8 in the UFC with the loss.
Farès Ziam used his debut at home in France to showcase tremendous overall improvements, handing newcomer Michal Figlak the first loss of his career.
The French lightweight showed a little bit of everything, hurting Figlak on the feet with long strikes and spinning attacks, battering his lead leg with heavy kicks, and significantly improved grappling, controlling the fight in every facet. Though he slowed down a little in the final frame, the damage was already done, and Ziam still got the best of things, closing out his best UFC performance to date in top position.
This was a great rebound win for the 25-year-old “Smile Killer,” who moves to 3-2 inside the Octagon and 12-4 overall with the victory. As for Figlak, he falls from the ranks of the unbeaten, moving to 8-1 with the loss.
The crowd at Accor Arena popped when Benoît Saint-Denis stepped into the Octagon, and they exploded when the French lightweight stopped Gabriel Miranda just seconds into the second round.
From the outset, these two were slinging hammers, happy to engage in the pocket and take one to land one. But the longer the fight progressed, the more Saint-Denis took over, finishing the first round by smashing Miranda on the canvas. When the Brazilian came out for the second, the Paris native wasted no time getting him out of there, closing the distance and unloading a barrage that brought the fight to a close.
That’s now two consecutive stoppage wins for Saint-Denis in the UFC, who moves to 10-1 overall with a victory at home.
What a debut for Cristian Quiñonez!
The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate started out patiently, working behind the jab, moving fluidly as Khalid Taha tried to press forward and close the distance. Midway through the round, when the veteran came forward, Quinonez stepped off and landed a right hand to the jaw that put Taha on the deck.
The quick follow-up blows brought the referee in to wave off the action, giving “Problema” a first-round stoppage win in his UFC debut.
Stephanie Egger made a hasty return to the win column, stepping in on short notice and spoiling the promotional debut of Ailin Perez.
Less than a month after suffering a disappointing submission loss to Mayra Bueno Silva, Egger filled in for Zarah Fairn and collected a submission win of her own, securing a rear-naked choke in the waning moments of the middle round. The Swiss judoka controlled the action on the canvas throughout, showing superior control and balance while taking advantage of Perez’s tendency to close the distance and look to clinch.
After hitting a beautiful trip in the second half of the round, Egger worked to mount, and then to the back, sinking in her hooks, and patiently working to fish her forearm under the neck of Perez. With the clock winding down, the veteran connected on the choke and drew out the tap.
A great return to action and return to the win column for Egger, who moves to 8-3 overall with the victory, while the newcomer Perez falls to 7-2 with the setback.
UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa took place on September 3, 2022, live from the Accor Arena in Paris, France. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!