The UFC in Paris went all out, with Marseillaise ringing through the hall. Two fighters claimed the title. Check out all the finishes!

The UFC returned to Europe on Saturday. Instead of London, however, it made its first-ever appearance in Paris, and although it wasn’t a numbered tournament, the card was attractive at first glance. It featured some interesting names. What did the UFC in Paris look like?

Prelims

The Prelims card may not have been the most attractive in terms of names the UFC has ever put together for their tournament, but in terms of fights, it wasn’t boring. After all, only two of the six fights ended on points and there was plenty to watch.

The gala opened with a girls’ war between Stephanie Egger and Ailin Perez. With just seconds left in the second round, Egger put a choke on her Argentinian opponent and it was all over.

The second duel didn’t even make it to the second round for good measure. Khalid Taha challenged Cristian Quiñonez and was not successful. In fact, he fell by TKO after three minutes and 15 seconds.

The first ever Frenchman on the card was Benois Saint-Denis. And the home environment suited him perfectly. He did whatever he wanted with Brazilian Gabriel Miranda. He had his work cut out for him to even make it to the second round.

However, the second round didn’t last very long. The Frenchman only needed 16 seconds to end the match.

The first match was also full of fun and ended on points. And once again, the home fighter won. Fares Ziam faced the Polish fighter Michal Figlak and although he won, it certainly wasn’t easy.

The same could not be said much for John Makdessi’s duel with Nasrat Haqparast. While he didn’t land many punches in the bout, Haqparast delivered two successful takedowns that helped him win on points.

The last duel of the prelims card was definitely not worth blinking at then. After 19 seconds, the match was over. Abus Magomedov handled Dustin Stoltzfus handily.

The main card

A very attractive and dramatic opening

The very first match of the main card was very attractive. The passages on the ground were not very active and interesting, but most of the match was in the stance, where there was a lot to watch. Charles Jourdain and Nathaniel Wood didn’t spare any effort, even though the point judges had to decide the winner.

Although Jourdain went into the match as a slight favorite, Wood handled him. Jourdain had a clear tactic, he simply wanted to finish Wood. But Wood was patient, took his time, was cautious, and kept his eye on everything. As a result, he was not surprised by his opponent and can enjoy the victory. But it was drama until the end.

The second match of the main card also offered great drama. William Gomis went into the match as the home prospect and was very nervous in the first round. However, he gradually got into it and began to have the upper hand over Jaren Errens. He was dangerous in the standup and took the fight to the ground when he got in trouble. In addition, he was able to not only defend several takedown attempts, but turn them to his advantage.

However, Gomis got into trouble at the end of the third round. Errens set up a triangle with half a minute left, and he did it very well. However, the Frenchman got out of the difficult position and the whole hall cheered. The points were won.

The third match of the main card did not end on points. Roman Kopylov, who finished Alessio Di Chirico in the third round, dominated the postfight. He had the upper hand throughout the fight, was more accurate and tougher. Even if he hadn’t knocked his opponent down, he would have won on points. A well-deserved victory.

Then Joaquin Buckley showed a lot of heart in his fight with Nassourdin Imavov. The Russian fighter had a big height advantage, as well as an arm span advantage and it showed. However, Buckley’s directness, power and conditioning gave him problems.

In addition, Buckley showed tremendous heart and desire to win, but Imavov was a little more accurate. He added two successful takedowns and wasn’t far from successfully landing a rear-naked choke. So he won on points, and on all judges’ scorecards. But Buckley did not disappoint in any way. On the contrary. He confirmed that his fights are entertaining.

Whittaker asked for another title shot

A fight between two top middleweight fighters promised to be an interesting spectacle. Both Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori have title fights with Israel Adesanya under their belts, neither could find a recipe for it. Now both are hoping Alex Pereira will win the title, and they fought in Paris to see who could be the next title challenger.

The first round was evenly matched. Whittaker had the slower start. But the second round was clearly in his favor. He found the right distance, caught Vettori several times and was able to shake him. Slowly but surely, Whittaker took his opponent apart like a Swiss watchmaker.

And the third round offered the same scenario. It was like a game of cat and mouse. To assert his dominance, Whittaker delivered a successful takedown. Except for the first round, there was nothing to solve. A one-sided affair, which was confirmed by the scoring judges, who determined the former champion Whittaker as the winner.

Marseillaise and a great heavyweight bout

A former interim champion and title challenger and an Australian on the rise. This was the UFC’s main event in Paris. It was headlined by homegrown Ciryl Gane. The latter could be cheered in the first round by the French national anthem sung by the sold out arena. However, the first round was cautious.

The second, however, was a different story. Especially the second half, when Gane started to relax and fight in his typical style. However, Tuivasa caught him once and sent him down with a hard shot. But he battled his way out of the situation when he was close to the end. He unleashed a series of punches to Tuivasa’s ribs and you could tell it hurt.

Gane looked much fitter in the third round. He was honestly punching Tuivas’ body from his stomach to his face with pinpoint accuracy and frequency. It was obvious the fight couldn’t last five rounds. And it didn’t, as he was done in the third round. The Frenchman dismantled the Australian and won by TKO.

Gane was clearly asking for a second title fight.

Source: UFC, Twitter