Ciryl Gane produced one of the cleanest performances of his UFC career to defeat Serghei Spivac and confirm his presence as a major player at the top of the heavyweight division.
Gane settled into his rhythm early as he stuck and moved to great effect through the opening five minutes. He even stuffed a couple of Spivac takedown attempts, too. The best shot of the round came when the pair were at close quarters against the cage, when Gane buried a huge knee into "The Polar Bear's" midsection.
Gane continued to pop his jab into Spivac's face through Round 2, but crucially, he loaded up to the body as he started to break down the Moldovan with heavy shots. Spivac gamely tried to trade against the fence, but Gane unloaded a relentless barrage of shots to force referee Marc Goddard to step in and wave off the fight at the 3:44 mark.
After his victory, Gane paid tribute to his fellow French fighters on the card, as well as the fans at the Accor Arena, before stating his intention to go for the title once again.
Fiorot claims biggest career win over injured Namajunas
French flyweight contender Manon Fiorot showed her championship credentials with a hard-earned decision victory over former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas to put herself within touching distance of a title shot at 125 pounds.
Namajunas came into the bout looking to catapult herself into championship contention in a new weight class, but early on in the fight she appeared to pick up an injury to the little finger of her right hand that effectively eliminated her power hand from her offense for the remainder of the fight.
It forced Namajunas to switch-hit during the bout as she tried to keep Fiorot guessing while trying to score effectively with her left hand and leg kicks. However, Fiorot was sharp enough to keep Namajunas on the end of her strikes for much of the matchup and, even though a determined Namajunas tried to close the distance in the third round, she couldn't find a strike, or a takedown, to turn the bout in her favor as Fiorot claimed the biggest, most important victory of her career with scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
Saint-Denis wins wild war with Moises
French lightweight prospect Benoit Saint-Denis went back and forth with Brazil's Thiago Moises for almost two full rounds before finally finishing his man by TKO in a thrilling encounter that had the French fans on their feet.
Both men went hell for leather in a breathless opening round that ended with a wild toe-to-toe flurry as the fans roared their approval. The action continued at breakneck pace in Round 2, with Saint-Denis finally finishing a worn-down Moises with ground strikes to extend his impressive win streak to four and take his career record to 12-1 (1 no contest).
Oezdemir claims rare submission win
Swiss light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir showcased his striking, then turned to his rarely-seen grappling skills to score only his second career submission victory as he defeated Bogdan Guskov.
Guskov brought plenty of forward pressure as he looked to swing for the fences early. But Oezdemir's striking was smoother, cleaner and more accurate as he made Guskov miss, then made him pay with hard counters as he badly rocked the Uzbekistan fighter and took him to the ground.
It looked like a TKO finish was on the cards but, after Guskov gave up his back, Oezdemir switched from strikes to submissions as he locked up a rear-naked choke to force the tap. It gave "No Time" his second career submission, with his first coming in only his third career fight, which also took place in Paris.
Charriere makes spectacular debut
French former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Morgan Charriere had been earmarked as a potential UFC star years ago as he was building his name on the European scene. And in Paris he delivered a dream debut performance to score a first-round knockout of Italian newcomer Manolo Zecchini.
Zecchini pushed the pace early as he loaded up on his shots and looked to find Charriere's chin. But "The Last Pirate" controlled the distance expertly and probed for openings as he found the range for punches of his own. But, as the fight went past the mid-way point of the opening round, Charriere turned to his kicks as he went for the Italian's body, and dismantled him in impressive fashion.
A succession of hard kicks to the liver sent Zecchini on the defensive as he tried to circle away from danger. But Charriere marshaled the cage well and stayed in position to launch another attack and, after a strong front kick folded up the Italian, another huge kick to the body and a couple of follow-up body punches sent Zecchnini to the mat for a crushing body-shot KO finish.
Fan-powered Lapilus outworks Loughran
The Paris crowd raised the roof for the French fighters throughout the night, but perhaps nowhere more than during the featured preliminary card bout between Taylor Lapilus and Caolan Loughran. The Irish debutant had made some choice comments about French MMA in the lead-up to the event, and had already riled the French crowd at the ceremonial weigh-ins, and he was greeted with deafening boos as he made the first walk of his UFC career. Then, when Lapilus entered the arena, the fans almost blew the roof off with a rapturous reception.
The French crowd kept that energy going throughout the three-round bantamweight clash as Lapilus produced a smart, slick performance to pick apart Loughran on the feet and defend the Irishman's takedowns. And, when Loughran was successful in getting the Frenchman to the mat, Lapilus defended well and managed to work his way back to his feet once again.
The matchup went all the way to the scorecards, when the French fans raised the roof when Lapilus was announced as the unanimous decision victor with scores of 29-28 across the board to hand Loughran his first career defeat.
UFC Paris: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Ciryl Gane def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:44
- Manon Fiorot def. Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Thiago Moises via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 4:44
- Volkan Oezdemir def. Bogdan Guskov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:46
- William Gomis def. Yanis Ghemmouri via TKO (body kick) – Round 3, 2:20
- Morgan Charriere def. Manolo Zecchini via knockout (body kicks and punches) – Round 1, 3:51
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Taylor Lapilus def. Caolan Loughran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ange Loosa def. Rhys McKee via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Nora Cornolle def. Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Farid Basharat def. Kleydson Rodrigues via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:15
- Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Zarah Fairn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
