UFC Paris 2024: Five Things We Learned

UFC Paris 2024: Five Things We Learned

UFC Paris was an entertaining event with multiple important fights. In those bouts, a handful of fighters showed off impressive skills. In some cases, fighters added to their winning streak while others showed serious improvements. Regardless, it gives us several important lessons to recap. Here are five things we learned at UFC Paris.

Renato Moicano continues his hot streak

In the UFC Paris main event, Renato Moicano defeated Benoit Saint-Denis via doctor stoppage at the end of round two. Moicano is now riding a four-fight win streak.

Moicano implemented some of his best techniques in the first round. In the first minute, he landed a body lock takedown and got a body triangle. That allowed him to become an immediate offensive threat. Moicano was active with ground and pound shots. At the same time, the threat of his rear-naked choke limited Saint-Denis’ options to get back to his feet. That allowed Moicano to be aggressive with strikes while controlling position.

Saint-Denis escaped the first round, but he was left with a large amount of swelling and several cuts.

Benoit Saint Denis looks like he’s been in a 5 round war after just 1 round with Renato Moicano. pic.twitter.com/BxqkKZ3Gfw

— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) September 28, 2024

Saint-Denis attempted to mount a comeback in the second round. All three judges gave him that round. Regardless, the ringside doctor stopped the fight at the end of the round.

The stoppage was an anti-climatic ending to the main event. It would have been beneficial to see the rest of the fight play out because Saint-Denis had a lot of fight left in him. That said, it was a fair stoppage based on the damage present.

The victory marked Moicano’s fourth consecutive win. It has been a great run against a stiff level of competition. The lightweight division is currently stacked. In all likelihood, he will get another tough test his next time out.

Nassourdine Imavov takes another step closer to a title fight

At UFC Paris, Nassourdine Imavov picked up a decision win against Brendan Allen to get himself one fight closer to a title fight.

Imavov did a lot of good work in the second and third rounds of this bout. After being out-grappled in the first round, he began defending takedowns and even spent some time in the top position. This was accomplished while being the more effective striking.

In all honesty, this was not the best showing from either fighter. In the third round, both fighters looked fatigued and sloppy. This was not the type of fight that resulted in a title fight. Still, Imavov took a small step closer.

It is obviously a positive that Imavov picked up a win over Allen. Regardless of how impressive it was, he is stacking ranked wins on top of each other. Imavov is now itching closer and closer to a title fight. The rising contender already shook up the division with a win over Jared Cannonier. Another big win may be enough to get him a shot at gold.

Bryan Battle continues to evolve

At UFC Paris, Bryan Battle knocked out Kevin Jousset in the second round. The story of Battle’s UFC career has been improvement. In this fight, he continued that trend.

Battle drowned Jousset with volume boxing. That is massive for his career. The majority of Battle’s striking acumen has revolved around his kicks. That is not to say he has never had hands; however, they have never looked this good. Battle was stringing shots together and landing at a high clip. It was an impressive showing that demonstrated his improving skill set.

On top of his performance during the fight, Battle pit on a show during his octagon-interview. The American went full heel after being the Frenchman in his home country. At this rate, Battle is going to become a fan favorite if he is not already.

Morgan Charriere gets another highlight

Morgan Charriere had a ton of hype as he entered the UFC. At UFC Paris, he knocked out Gabriel Miranda to add to his impressive highlight reel.

In the first round, Charriere did a good job of avoiding Miranda’s grappling. In the second round, he got aggressive and landed a left hook while exiting the clinch. That shot ended the fight.

Miranda is not the toughest level of competition. It is still a positive to see Charriere treat him that way. If Charriere ever gets a step-down, he puts his opponent on a highlight reel.

It will be interesting who Charriere fights next. The UFC could opt to slowly build the rising Frechman or they could give him a serious test.

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Fares Ziam makes a statement

At UFC Paris, Fares Ziam had the best performance of his career. The Frenchman dominated Matt Frevola before landing a lethal knee in the round. It is a highlight reel knockout that will be a contender for KO of the year.

Ziam is another fighter who has been slowly improving; however, it looked like everything clicked in this matchup. Ziam was landing shots from the outside while countering Fevola. This was done while avoiding Frevola boxing and defending takedowns. It was a sensational performance before he landed the knockout. The picture-perfect knee that ended the fight was an exclamation point on his performance.

At 27 years old, Ziam is a fighter to keep an eye on. The talent is obvious and he is getting miles better every time he fights. It is special to watch. Plus, he is knocking on the door of the UFC lightweight rankings.

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