Sooo ... About Last Night

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Last night (Sat., Sept. 28, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Accor Arena in Paris, France for UFC Paris. It’s amazing the difference an enthusiastic crowd can make. Despite the card overall being fairly Apex-level and featuring a slow start, the Paris crowd went absolutely nuts the entire time! It felt like a major night of action, raising the stakes for the viewers and fighters alike.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Paris’ best performances and techniques:

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Money Moicano Game Plans His Way To Victory

Benoit Saint Denis is a very dangerous man, but his approach to combat is straightforward. Renato Moicano, a veteran contender with plenty of cage time against the absolute best, came into the Octagon well-prepared to exploit Saint Denis’ inexperience.

Right off the bat, Saint Denis aimed for his favorite left liver kick. Moicano — almost like he spent an entire training camp practicing for this weapon! — swiped the kick by, created an angle, and used it to score an easy takedown. Remember when Alexander Gustafsson did the exact same thing to become the first man to take down Jon Jones? It’s hard to stop a shot that starts so deep and at such a good angle.

Moicano’s smart strategy gained his top position early, when both men were dry. Showing off his preparation again, as well as his generally excellent jiu-jitsu, the Brazilian countered Saint Denis’ butterfly guard and kept him pinned. When the French athlete tried instead to explode to his feet, Moicano jumped his back and beat the absolute piss out of him from the body triangle.

Saint Denis returned to his stool a different man. Both of his eyes were swollen nearly shut, and his right eye also sported two nasty cuts. Round two saw a relaxed Moicano flicking jabs as Saint Denis tried to get his legs back under him. He looked a bit more in the fight by the end of the second, but it was already a done deal.

Saint Denis’ face was a mess. He couldn’t open one eye at all. The cage side doctor didn’t earn the love of the French crowd, but he made the correct call in stopping the fight after the second.

All in all, Moicano and his camp deserve a ton of credit for this win. Benoit Saint Denis gave Moicano’s team mate Dustin Poirier absolute hell earlier this year, but Moicano walked away without a scratch on his face — that’s the power of a good game plan!

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The Dark Horses Underwhelm

Nassourdine Imavov and Brendan Allen entered UFC Paris trying to make their case for a title shot in a crowded 185-pound division. They were trying to impress and wrest the opportunity away from the likes of Sean Strickland, Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev, or Alex Pereira — each of whom COULD be next for Dricus Du Plessis.

Nope.

The fight was fine, but I didn’t walk away impressed with either man. Allen’s wrestling looked terrible. In rounds two and three, he kept taking bad shots and giving up top position by repeatedly wrestling from his knees — awful form! When he actually tried to strike, he would land decently well, but he continually shot himself in the foot by committing so heavily to the poor takedown assault.

Imavov was only a bit better. His hands looked sharp as usual, and his wrestling defense has improved over the years. That was enough to pick up the W here, but his conditioning is still miserable. Nothing really happened in round one (Allen controlled him from top position but didn’t do anything), he won round two easily, and he’s still horribly gassed in round three?

Cardio machine champion “Stillknocks” isn’t losing any sleep at the thought of an Imavov title shot.

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Battle Continues His Welterweight Climb

Is trying to cage wrestle a Judo specialist the best idea? That’s up for debate. On one hand, Bryan Battle wasn’t able to take down Kevin Jousset. At the same time, Battle’s wrestling push fit with the general idea of his strategy, which was to wear down and fatigue Jousset with constant pressure and offense.

The first round was close enough, as Battle couldn’t finish the takedowns but scored with volume while eating counters. His weaponized pace paid off in the second, however, as he started firing more and more volume in the face of a slowing Jousset. It really felt like a classic Diaz brother-style mauling, complete with cage-side body rips. When a right hand rocked Jousset, Battle emptied the tank with an unending flurry, forcing the referee’s hand to save the wobbly Frenchman.

“The Butcher” improves his UFC record to 6-1-1.

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Charriere Treats The Paris Crowd

Despite entering his third UFC bout with a 1-1 record, it’s been clear to anyone watching that Morgan Charreire is really skilled. He’s a cut above the average unranked Featherweight populace. His win over Gabriel Miranda — also 1-1 in the UFC but hasn’t looked particularly special — was no surprise. He largely dominated the grappler on the feet, shucking off takedowns easily and eventually flooring with a big left hook.

It was a nice win, confirmation that Charreire is legit. The big moment, however, was Charreire leading the entire crowd in a rendition of the French national anthem! Breaking into song is generally cause for Mike Bisping to yank the mic away, but in this case, it was actually a great moment.

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The Most Brutal Knockout Of 2024?

Fares Ziam leveled up in a great performance against Matt Frevola, but I have to assume his development will be overshadowed by the sheer viciousness of the knee that finished the fight. Maybe I’m alone in this, but I was fairly stunned by just how nastily Frevola crumbled after taking the knee to the jaw line, collapsing in complete unconsciousness as his mouthpiece fell to the wayside.

I hope “Steamrolla” is alright.

As for Ziam, he deserves all his flowers. At age 27, Ziam has grown into a genuine Lightweight contender. He’s always been technically gifted, but in the past, Ziam was hampered a bit by his lack of physicality and killer instinct. Understandable flaws for a young fighter who made it into the UFC at 22!

In this bout, Ziam’s strength held up well in the face of Frevola’s bowling ball offense. His straight punches weaved inside the arc of Frevola’s swings and did real damage, calming him down. When Frevola did stand still for a moment, Ziam showed off smart combination building and mixed up his strikes really well. He then moved to his own grappling, nearly scoring his own submission win in round two.

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Additional Thoughts

• Chris Duncan defeats Bolaji Oki via first-round guillotine choke (highlights): When’s the last time jumping the gilly worked? Better yet, when’s the last time an arm-in closed guard guillotine worked? Duncan beat the historical precedent and odds alike near the end of the first. Oki was the faster man with heavier strikes early, but a takedown attempt from Duncan created an opportunity to jump on the neck as Oki moved to stand. Just as Duncan gave up on the choke, Oki was revealed to be unconscious!
• Ailin Perez defeats Darya Zheleznyakova via first-round arm triangle choke (highlights): Perez missed weight on Friday, which definitely costs her some points here. That said, she picked up a fairly effortless submission win in just over a minute to score her fourth straight UFC win in a very weak division. She’s already ranked, so maybe the victory (and subsequent twerking) scores her a Top 10 opponent next? They’re aren’t many women’s Bantamweights actively racking up wins like this.

For complete UFC Paris: “Saint-Denis vs. Moicano” results and play-by-play, click HERE!