If the UFC wanted to find out if the top heavyweights and middleweights in the official UFC rankings deserved their spots, UFC Paris should have put to rest any lingering doubts.
In the heavyweight main event, No. 1-ranked Ciryl Gane overcame No. 3-ranked Tai Tuivasa by third-round knockout. The battle earned the oft-criticized Gane (“he’s too safe”) his first “Fight of the Night” bonus and clearly shut down the former UFC interim champion as the top-ranked challenger for the heavyweight title of Francis Ngannou’s UFC.
In the co-main event, No. 1 middleweight Robert Whittaker showed every concern that he remains the best fighter in the UFC at 185 pounds outside of current champion Israel Adesanya. The former champion defeated #2 ranked Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision. A judge gave Vettori a single round, outside of that Whittaker owned the scorecards.
The event also left UFC fans with a couple of names to add to their lists of “must see” fighters.
Read on for the winners and losers from UFC Paris, which took place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France and aired on ESPN+.
Winners:
Ciryl Gane: During his post-fight interview with ESPN, a bemused Ciryl Gane said of his UFC Paris opponent, Tai Tuivasa, “this is the first time a guy has touched me and I’m on my ass , it’s crazy”. But this loss, which Gane said was more of a knockout than a loss when speaking to UFC commentator Michael Bisping, may have been what Gane needed to take the next step in his MMA career. I know it wasn’t what he wanted, but hey, he recovered and came back to finish Tuivasa in the third round.
Gane has earned a reputation as a safe, if boring, fighter. His goal when he steps into the Octagon is to hit and not get hit. Well, Tuivasa hit him—hard—and even though he put him on his ass, he didn’t stop him. Gane recovered and then took control of the fight, hurting and weakening Tuivasa with body kicks—he finished the fight with 30 body blows to Tuivasa in the second and third rounds—before finishing with punches head
Gane discovered that he can overcome adversity in this contest. I don’t know if this knowledge will make him more aggressive, I doubt it will, but now he and his team know that he can get out of a sticky situation with a strong hit and that is something that is needed at the top of the standings. heavyweight division.
Tai Tuivasa: Tai Tuivasa lost his fight to Cyril Gane, so he might drop a notch in the official UFC heavyweight rankings, but it’s hard to imagine a right-minded fan or decision-maker UFC walked away from UFC Paris and thought, “well, that’s a wrap on Tai Tuivasa’s UFC career.”
Tuivasa may never hold a UFC title, but at 29 he’s young enough and violent enough that a title shot could be in his future. Even if he isn’t, Tuivasa is a certain type of heavyweight that the UFC needs, someone who, to quote Tuivasa himself, is “down to get down.”
The knockout loss to Gane ended Tuivasa’s five-match knockout winning streak, but his fight night bonus winning streak is intact. He and Gane earned “Fight of the Night” honors in Paris, giving Tuivasa four straight winning performances.
Robert Whittaker: Robert Whittaker cemented his status as the best untitled middleweight in the UFC with a solid win over Marvin Vettori in the UFC Paris co-main event.
Whittaker’s head kicks made the difference in this contest. Those kicks rocked Vettori more than once and proved that the former champion is the better and more complete fighter. Whittaker also showed his smarts by scoring a takedown late in the contest and scoring with ground strikes as the final minute of the bout wound down.
I don’t know what this win does for Whittaker, as he was already the number one contender in the official UFC middleweight rankings, but his performance against Vettori didn’t hurt him. That’s probably the best Whittaker, who has two losses to current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, could ask for.
Roman Kopylov: Roman Kopylov could have saved his UFC career on Saturday and he did it with style, power and precision.
Kopylov was 0-2 in the UFC heading into his UFC Paris matchup against Alessio Di Chirico. Kopylov fought once in 2019 and again in 2021 before competing on Saturday.
The 31-year-old displayed powerful kicks throughout the fight and those kicks could have helped him set up the finish with his punches. This was an excellent performance for Kopylov and should give him momentum as long as he can stay active.
Charles Jourdain vs. Nathaniel Wood – This was a fun fight between Charles Jourdain and Nathaniel Wood, with Wood getting the upper hand thanks to his more powerful jab and ability to get the fight to the ground via “cheeky” trips.
Wood, 29, was sidelined between October 2020 and July 2022 due to injuries. When he returned to action as a featherweight, he picked up a victory over Charles Rosa. His win over Jourdain at UFC Paris should make him feel even more comfortable as a 145-pound fighter.
Keep an eye on Wood, this English scrapper as he seems to be finding his comfort zone inside the octagon.
Abus Magomedov: For fans who wanted a break between the prelims and the main card, Abus Magomedov deserves your thanks.
Magomedov, who hadn’t fought since December 2020 with KSW, landed a nasty front kick and then swarmed Dustin Stoltzfus for the knockout victory in 19 seconds.
Expect the 32-year-old to make up for lost time after this win.
Nasrat Haqparast: Nasrat Haqparast ended a two-fight losing streak with an excellent performance against John Makdessi at UFC Paris. Haqparast’s speed made the difference in this fight. His quickness allowed him to strike inside and then retreat before Makdessi could return fire.
Fares Ziam: Fares Ziam knew the timing of Michel Figlak’s forward pressure early. With this, he was able to slide attacks and return powerful and accurate counters.
Ziam also showed good balance and progress in his fighting skills during this contest.
This was a nice bounce-back performance from Ziam, who was coming off a February submission loss to Terrance McKinney.
Benoit Saint-Denis: Benoit Saint-Denis celebrated his marriage last week. He picked up his second UFC stoppage win this week and his first by knockout.
The 26-year-old Saint-Denis used his powerful and aggressive jab to take the fight to rookie Gabriel Miranda.
Saint-Denis is tough, tenacious, skilled and powerful. He’s still young in his MMA career (he turned pro in 2019), but he’s 100 percent a fighter to watch in the lightweight division.
Cristian Quinonez: Cristian Quinonez did an excellent job using his length and jab to negate the shorter Taha’s power early in the fight. That style and his height advantage allowed Quinonez to set up the kill shot, catching Taha with some power of his own, landing a huge right as Taha got his head off his feet and opened up like a juicy target . If Quinonez wanted to make a statement in his UFC debut, he made it.
Stephanie Egger: I like it when fighters look to get back on the horse. And that’s what Stephanie Egger did.
Mayra Bueno Silva submitted Egger in the first round of their Aug. 6 showdown. He got a chance to put that loss out of his mind on Saturday when he accepted a short-term bout on the UFC Paris card. Egger put the submission setback behind her when she picked up a submission victory over Ailin Perez in the first match of the night.
Of course, the former approach can backfire and put a competitor in a quick two-fight skid, but that didn’t happen in this case, did it?
French MMA fans: Fans showed up early for this event and more than once the UFC commentary team noted the exuberance they showed during the Octagon action. With the introduction of French fighters at UFC Paris, it would be hard to imagine the UFC not returning to France in the not too distant future.
Losers:
Marvin Vettori – Marvin Vettori proved, once again, that he can make heavy shots. However, at some point in most combat sports careers, this ability fails. Also, being hard-headed is not something to rely on for a long and fruitful career.
Joaquin Buckley: Joaquin Buckley was a fighter, but the size difference in his fight against the taller Nassourdine Imavov hurt him. His only recourse was to charge and throw flurries of strikes, which opened him up to counters and put him in danger of being taken down.
Buckley deserves credit for his aggression and effort, but his inability to effectively close the distance was the big story of this contest for him.
Michal Figlak – Former Cage Warriors fighter, Michal Figlak made his UFC debut in Paris. The 26-year-old was aggressive in the early moments of the fight, but it didn’t take long for his opponent, Fares Ziam, to figure out his timing and movement.
I would have liked to see Figlak and his team adjust their attacks after the first lap, but that didn’t happen. Figlak and his team should review the tape of this fight in detail and see where things might have changed during the action.
The positive thing about Figlak was that he never gave up or gave up. Even though the fight looked like it was going to Ziam in the latter stages of the third round, Figlak continued to press and find ways to at least win the round. This wasn’t a bad first UFC fight for the young lightweight
Gabriel Miranda: Gabriel Miranda’s takedowns and setups for those takedowns were outstanding. He went one-for-three in that department against Benoit Saint-Denis, but he didn’t seem thrilled when he took a hit and was a little uncomfortable launching his own attacks.
If anything, this fight was a good test for Miranda and an excellent learning experience.
Khalid Taha: Khalid Taha returned from more than one…