UFC Paris Once Again Lives Up to Its Reputation as the Fight Night That Delivers

Famously known as the fight night that always delivers, for the fifth time in its history inside the UFC, Paris delivered again. 

From electrifying finishes to solid scraps back and forth, Paris once more welcomed the octagon with open arms.

Salahdine Parnasse wins by R1 KO against Dan Hooker

A lot of questions were asked when Dan Hooker would welcome French newcomer Parnasse into the octagon. Some of the recent main-stream debutants have struggled in the UFC, like we saw with Aaron Pico’s debut or even Patchy Mix, who’s now on a 4 fight skid and outside the promotion. All these doubts were quickly silenced, however.

Parnasse delivered a striking masterclass, kicking at the body of Hooker, grazing with a head kick, only to finish with a left hook and ground and pound in the very first round. The striking versatility was surely fascinating, but now we wonder, who is next?

Alex Sola defeats Fares Ziam by R1 KO

The first ever french duel in the UFC took place in the co-main event and it delivered perhaps one of the biggest knockouts we had ever seen. With the entire arena split between Sola and Ziam, the pure moment of silence followed by uproar once Sola landed the overhand left was one unseen before.

Sola’s knockout was unexpected as many predicted a very calculated back and forth, though the visual of Ziam, the more experienced fighter unconscious was daunting, as it did seem he was out for a fair bit of time.

Axel Sola now gathers two wins in a row and is looking to set his name amongst the lightweight rankings.

Michael Page defeats Nursulton Ruziboev by DEC

Michael Page’s walkout had the crowd excited, though that excitement was quickly extinguished as the crowd rapidly gathered the direction of the fight. 20 strikes landed between both men, three rounds of a lot of faints and striking at range and MVP wins another Unanimous Decision in his final UFC Contract.

MVP’s style has been proven as effective, as he goes 5-1 and his only loss being to a dynamic Ian Garry in what was a close fight. The issue is his fights have largely been lacking entertainment, despite them being against mostly entertaining fighters. The common-denominator has largely been MVP in these fights.

What’s next for the British superstar? MVP promised a more volume-based approach if he does get resigned, mentioning aspirations for the UFC belt. It is unsure if MVP gets resigned, though we know the UFC isn’t exactly content with how the last few fights have been.

Losene Keita defeats Muhammad Naimov by TKO

After a failed weight cut a year ago had Losene Keita removed entirely from the past Paris card and a brief setback in London, Keita had a lot of doubters to prove wrong in this fight against Naimov. Immediately, the speed advantage was apparent.

Initially, a quick knockdown had everyone thinking Naimov was out already, though he managed to survive a bit more. Unfortunately for him, Keita’s speed saw him land a quick right that shut his lights out. Keita then jumps the cage, takes a seat and claps for his own performance.

Keita’s hype is very real, and that includes a warning shot to Lerone Murphy, who obviously is far up in the rankings, but not a bad fight to consider.

UFC Paris delivered once more and hopefully the UFC returns to the French Capital once again next year.