UFC Paris - Magnifique
The Accor Arena witnessed another seminal moment for French MMA this weekend, as Ciryl Gane, Manon Fiorot and Benoit Saint-Denis picked up very impressive wins.
9 French fighters on the card, 7 wins and 2 losses. Considering two of the fighters were matched up against each other, that’s a brilliant night for the French MMA scene. And at the top of the bill we had three potential champions in Ciryl Gane, Manon Fiorot and Benoit Saint-Denis who all looked fantastic.
Ciryl Gane has seen the highest highs and the lowest lows in the sport since the start of last year. After winning the interim heavyweight title in August 2021, he started last year off with a very close decision loss to champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 270, the first loss of his professional career. He naturally headlined the first UFC card in France later on in the year, and turned in a fight of night performance against Tai Tuivasa to get back on track. He faced some adversity in that fight, but rallied to get a third round KO win in front og his home crowd.
As the Francis Ngannou debacle ended with him not resigning with the UFC and relinquishing his heavyweight title, Gane was offered to fight for the vacant belt against Jon Jones. In his second attempt at UFC gold, Gane again came up short and got submitted in the first round. It was clear that the ground game was his Achilles heel, which made this weekends matchup against Serghei Spivac a very dangerous one. What ended up happening though, was another Ciryl Gane masterclass. he outlanded Spivac 109-11 in significant strikes, and stuffed the only takedown the Moldovan attempted. He moved so well across the octagon, and Spivac never really managed to figure out how to enter and set up his takedowns. After hurting Spivac to the body, Gane followed up with a rally of punches to end the fight in the second round. Even though he has already lost two title fights, I can definitely see Gane being a world champion one day, but he might have to fight at least once more before getting a third crack at the belt.
Someone who is in contention for the next title shot in their respective division is Manon Fiorot. She took on former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in her first fight at flyweight. Rose ended up injuring her finger just two minutes into the first round which will no doubt have compromised her, but I’ll take nothing away from Fiorot who looked great in her 29-28 decision win. The first round was clear as day for Fiorot, and although the second was more competitive I would still give that to Fiorot as well. The third was a good round for Rose and I think that was a clear round for her, even though one of the three judges scored every round for Fiorot. The rematch between Grasso and Shevhcenko goes down in two weeks, and both Fiorot and Blanchfield will be watching that with a keen eye. Both are on the cusp of a title shot, and although I think Blancfield had a slightly better performance in her last fight, it wouldn’t surprise me if Fiorot gets the next opportunity.
Wow, did Benoit Saint-Denis look incredible once again. After choking out Ismael Bonfim just a couple of months ago, he put on a masterclass in Paris against a perennial contender in Thiago Moises. Saint-Denis had his number on the feet as was expected, but he also dominated on the ground, which is impressive considering Moises’ BJJ credentials. The lightweight division is stacked enough as it is, but for someone ranked outside the top 15 to put on performances like this consistently just shows the immense depth that the 155lbs division holds. Saint-Denis still has a way to go before he can start talking about titles, but he certainly has all the skills necessary to go all the way to the top.
Apart from the fighters delivering the goods, the French fans were once again exceptional. They showed what they could do last year, and just kept that same energy again this weekend. This is what happens when the UFC goes to new locations and loads up the cards with local talents! England, Australia, Brazil etc. has obviously been mainstays for many years and now France has come along as well, but to hear the UFC say that they are looking to go back to Ireland, Sweden, Scotland, expand more into Asia and other parts of the world is music to the ears of all MMA fans, because the fans makes it a much bigger spectacle than if it were at the Apex.
Speaking of, next event is UFC 293 in Sydney which never fails to deliver. Israel Adesanya will defend his title against Sean Strickland, and in this instance, the press conference will probably just as entertaining as the fight itself!