In what has seemingly become a fall tradition, the UFC returned to Paris for a Fight Night event, with this year's UFC Paris taking place at the Accor Arena on September 6.
This marks the fourth straight year the UFC has held a September Fight Night event in the City of Lights. With France only just legalizing MMA back in 2020, the UFC has annually made an impact in Paris with entertaining fight cards for the French fanbase. Last year's UFC Paris card saw Renato Moicano score a doctor's stoppage victory over Benoit Saint Denis.
The main event of this year's UFC Paris saw a major middleweight contenders clash featuring Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho. Imavov entered this bout on a four-fight win streak and with seven wins in his last nine. This marked his first outing since his finish of former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC Saudi Arabia in February. Borralho entered with wins in all but two of his professional MMA fights, including a perfect 7-0 Octagon record. The Fighting Nerds member entered this fight off a win over Jared Cannonier last year at UFC Vegas 96.
Saint Denis was involved in this year's card as well, taking on Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event. Saint Denis had won six of his last eight, most recently submitting Kyle Prepolec at UFC 315. Ruffy had won seven straight and 3-0 in the UFC entering tonight's bout, coming in off his epic spinning wheel kick knockout of King Green at UFC 313.
Who left their mark in Paris? Who could have done a lot better? Let's find out with the UFC Paris Hits and Misses!
Hit: Lighting Up The City With Finishes Galore
In one of the most historical cities in the world, the UFC gave the people of Paris a treat with all of the action that went on at the event. Out of the 13 fights that took place at UFC Paris, 11 ended via a finish. This tied a record set also by UFC Fight Night Syndey in November 2014, UFC 224 in May 2018, and UFC 281 in November 2022.
This included a preliminary card that went 7-for-7 in finishes. Highlights from the preliminary action featured first-round knockouts from the likes of Rinat Fakhretdinov, Sam Patterson, Kaue Fernandes, Ante Delija, and Oumar Sy. Meanwhile, the main card saw the likes of Axel Sola, Mason Jones, Modestas Bukauskas, and Benoint Saint Denis scoring finishes.
There are times where UFC Fight Night cards can be a bit of a miss; there may have some trepidation that such could happen after how the preliminary card went. Just look at UFC Shanghai from a couple of weeks ago. But without question, UFC Paris more than delivered (and thank goodness it was a Fight Night that took place outside of the UFC APEX).
Hit: Paris Presents Lively Atmosphere
They say that the international UFC crowds are the best ones, and for good reason. But credit where it's due, the audience present at the Accor Arena was awesome. The crowd was loud from the very first prelim and into the co-main event and main event bouts -- where they were loud at the end seeing their hometown fighters come out on top.
The Paris card has become an annual late summer/early fall tradition that has been truly enjoyable, and I'm glad we have it.
Hit: Sam Patterson On A First-Round Finish Frenzy
I don't know what has gotten into Sam Patterson over the last four fights, but if he has some sort of routine or good-luck charm or superstitious practice, he needs to keep it up. His finish of Trey Waters during the prelims shows just how much momentum that young man has.
After a slow start from both men, Waters seemed to be getting the upper hand. But Patterson got into a groove with his right hand, and he continuosuly landed it to devastating effects on Waters, snapping his head back repeatedly. Eventually, the referee saw enough, giving Patterson the win in about three minutes.
Patterson may have lost his UFC debut back at UFC 286 but he's now racked up four straight first-round finishes. It may be appropriate that his nickname is "The Future"; if Patterson, the Dana White Contender's Series and Brave CF alumnus, can continue to develop while putting on performances like this, his future might be bright.
Hit: Ante Delija Has Opportunity In Weak UFC Heavyweight Scene
It was just a few years ago when Ante Delija became the 2022 PFL heavyweight champion, and after Francis Ngannou was signed by the promotion, some wondered if Delija would get a showdown with Ngannou. While that dream fight of his never came, and Delija ultimately departed the PFL earlier this year, his UFC run is off to as strong of a start as it could be with his first-round stoppage of Marcin Tybura.
Though Tybura tried to stop the initial right-hand based attack with his grappling, Delija managed to escape Tybura's grasp and trouble him with his striking. Delija's attack would be too much for Tybura, who'd fall to the mat to give the former PFL champ a TKO in his UFC debut.
Tybura came into the fight ranked No. 7 at heavyweight. On one hand, this, combined with Curtis Blaydes' near-loss to a debuting Rizvan Kuniev earlier this summer (combined with Kuniev entering the rankings on a loss) might be presented as a bad look for the UFC's heavyweight division. But look at what this can do for it -- and what it does for Delija. He'll be placed just outside of the top five at heavyweight. If he wins another fight or two, then he'll be already primed for a title shot -- and that gives this division another serious name that it desperately needs.
Miss: Herb Dean - Make It Make Sense
It feels like something is up every event Herb Dean officiates, and it's sad. It feels like there have been plenty of fights this year where if he's referring, his decisions can become the center of attention. That's not good. And to make this week's matters worse, this involved not one, but two calls made.
Dean's bad night started during the preliminary card, with Kaue Fernandes using a leg-kick attack gameplan to score a finish of Harry Hardwick. Fernandes got Hardwick limping around the Octagon less than two minutes into the fight, and yet Dean, despite seeing Hardwick wobble around, allowed the fight to continue. One particularly bad leg kick saw Hardwick roll around the mat. But Dean waited to see Hardwick unable to stand despite his efforts before calling the fight.
Then, on the main card, Dean had a blunder during Axel Sola's win over Rhys McKee. Sola landed a body shot that appeared to send McKee to the mat. McKee appeared to go for a takedown quickly, but Sola stopped that right away with a couple of seconds of ground-and-pound. Though McKee seemed to still be in the fight and defending, Dean stepped in and waved the bout off -- much to the protests of McKee and the crowd (and the rest of the MMA community on X).
For the 3 millionth time, how is it officials (refs, judges, etc.) aren't obligated to defend their controversial decisions (and quite often get away with them)? It's a sad state of an affair in this sport.
Hit: Mason Jones - Call Him Comeback Kid
How do you follow up winning a wild fight with Jeremy Stephens in your UFC return? Well, Mason Jones' answer to that question was to nearly get stopped by Bolaji Oki, only to come from behind and score a finish in the next round.
Oki rocked and dropped Jones twice in the fight's first 90 seconds, nearly putting him away right then and there. Jones would not be deterred, however, and he took control, attempting to lock up a submission and storming back to take control of the fight. Jones would bring Oki to the mat in the second round and overwhelm him with ground-and-pound en route to a comeback TKO.
Jones went 1-2 (1 NC) during his first UFC tenure from January 2021 to July 2022. Since getting cut, Jones has now won six straight, winning all four of his fights in Cage Warriors before getting re-signed by the UFC. A firm eye should now be on Jones as he continues to develop and work his way up against more prominent names at lightweight.
Hit: Modestas Bukauskas Racks Up Wins
Don't look now, but Modestas Bukauskas might be a fight or two away from being a ranked light heavyweight after his buzzer-beater knockout of Paul Craig.
Both men looked to utilize grappling in this matchup, with Bukauskas trying to use the clinch before Craig tried to bring the fight to the mat. Though the fight ended up on the ground, Bukauskas was the one in control. He'd deliver some strong ground-and-pound, including an elbow right at the horn that left Craig unable to get back to his corner and unable to continue.
Bukauskas' initial UFC run saw him go just 1-3 before the promotion parted ways with him. Now, he's got four wins in the Octagon, including three finishes during that span. A number next to his name in the rankings might be coming sooner than some may think.
Hit: Thank you, Paul Craig
The 12-year professional MMA career of Paul Craig ended in Paris, as he laid down the gloves in the center of the Octagon following his loss to Modestas Bukauskas.
Craig started professional MMA in August 2013, winning his first nine bouts. That included his UFC debut in December 2016, defeating Henrique da Silva. Craig would lose four of his next six but proved to be an entertaining, and popular, figure -- especially when he competed on UFC cards held in Europe.
Craig went 5-0-1 between September 2019 and March 2022, scoring four performance bonuses during that time. Craig's time in the UFC, however, ended with losses in six of eight, facing off against various notable names in today's UFC light heavyweight division, including Johnny Walker and Caio Borralho, as well as ranked middleweight contender Brendan Allen.
Craig wasn't the winningest kind of fighter in the UFC. But were his fights always entertaining and something people kept tabs on? By far. So, shoutout to "Bearjew" and the best to him in his retirement.
Hit: The Best Benoit Saint Denis Has Ever Looked
After his outing in Paris last year did not go the way he wanted, Benoit Saint Denis returned to his home country this year for a show in the Octagon that proved to be perhaps the best performance he's ever had, turning away the rising Mauricio Ruffy in a second-round finish.
Saint Denis brought pressure right away, mounting Ruffy in just 60 seconds and controlling the action from there, even as Ruffy brought the fight back to the feet for the last 40 seconds of round one. It didn't take much for BSD to return the action to the mat for round two, where'd he score a victory via rear-naked choke.
The other time BSD had this strong of a win, you'd probably have to look at his UFC 295 outing, when he knocked out Matt Frevola in just 91 seconds at Madison Square Garden. Now that he has back-to-back finishes under his belt against names who were unranked or lower ranked, maybe BSD's next bout can come against someone in the lower portion of the top-10 at lightweight.
Miss: Too Much, Too Quick For Mauricio Ruffy?
I don't want to completely wreck on Mauricio Ruffy; as mentioned, Benoit Saint Denis had one of the best performances of his career in the UFC Paris co-main event. But on that same regard, Mauricio Ruffy looked completely outclassed.
This was only Ruffy's fourth fight in the Octagon since coming into the UFC off a highlight finish on Dana White's Contender Series. The finishes have been great and made Ruffy worthy of attention, let alone the fact he's part of the Fighting Nerds team. But perhaps going from King Green to BSD, who has been in there with the likes of Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, may have been a little much of a jump.
Hopefully Ruffy finds another opponent in fairly short time and he can have a rebound performance to take his momentum back up.
Miss: Nassourdine Imavov And Caio Borralho Just Gave Khamzat Chimaev To Either Anthony Hernandez Or Reinier De Ridder
Talk about a way to end an exciting UFC Paris card with a letdown -- and to come super close to a middleweight title shot, only to just hand it away. Nassourdine Imavov may have gotten the win in his native France over Caio Borralho, but both men may not be getting the middleweight title shot they could have received with an impressive victory.
The fight didn't have the biggest amount of output, with Imavov finding success behind his jab and Borralho not bringing out the level of activity we are used to seeing from him. Though Borralho battled back in a strong third-round performance, Imavov's striking proved to be just too much -- though not enough to earn a finish.
Though Imavov came into the contest ranked No. 2 at middleweight, UFC CEO and President Dana White has hinted at the possibility of Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez or former two-division ONE champion Reinier de Ridder jumping him if one of them scores a highlight victory in the main event of UFC Vancouver next month. Now with the boring fight Imavov and Borralho put on in Paris, it'd only take a good (read: good, not great) performance from one of those two to score the first crack at Khamzat Chimaev.