There are a whole lot of debuting fighters on this Saturday’s UFC Paris, which sees the promotion return to France for the second time after debuting in the country one year ago. Heavyweights headline the show, with Ciryl Gane facing Serghei Spivac. Earlier in the night, Yanis Ghemmouri steps into the octagon for the first time, taking on William Gomis. The fight originally featured Caolan Loughran but the deck was shuffled last minute.
Yanis “The Desert Warrior” Ghemmouri
Standing at five-foot-nine
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
28-years-old
Fighting out of Lyon, France
Training out of Climax Fight Academy
A pro record of 12-1
3 KO/TKOs, 4 Submissions
How Ghemmouri will fare in the UFC:
Ghemmouri is a name I didn’t expect to hear getting signed to the UFC but I like it. Along with an impressive MMA record, Ghemmouri has a strong background in kickboxing as well. He is 15-0 and a French National kickboxing champion. Ghemmouri hasn’t lost a fight in eight years and is on a nine-fight win streak.
Although Ghemmouri is a credentialed striker most of his wins come by submission. I don’t rate his wrestling highly at all but he does utilize trips decently in the clinch. His grappling is competent. He has good ground and pound, scrambles well, and has a good submission attack. I do see him being controlled by a strong wrestler because his level of jiu-jitsu isn’t up to par.
The ground game is just a good backup to have in the back pocket. Ghemmouri is a rangy kickboxer who will make life difficult on the outside. He has a good jab and straights but all the work is done with his lower half. He dictates the range with a series of kicks like teeps, side kicks, leg kick, oblique kicks, and others. He uses a lot of feints and fakes to keep his opponent guessing. Ghemmouri has been chin-checked before but has yet to be knocked out. It very well could happen given he’s so kick-heavy and his chin is up in the air. It will take a good striker to do so however because Ghemmouri is a hard puzzle to figure out.
After watching the tape on Ghemmouri I’m excited to see what he can do in the UFC. I enjoy watching high-level kickboxers in MMA so I’m a fan of his style. A few times in his career he’s been more of a point-based striker and he’s barely won decisions. I’d like to see him be more aggressive because that would make him more dangerous. His fighting style reminds me of Fares Ziam. An excellent striker but needs to put it together more.
How he matches up with Gomis:
Loughran was a tough match-up for Ghemmouri and Gomis isn’t any easier. This is going to be a chess match as both have similar styles. Both are lengthy kickboxers that know how to use their range. I lean heavily towards Gomis. I do so because Gomis is going to be the bigger fighter. Beyond that, Gomis I believe is better in the style both fight at anyway. Ghemmouri can equal the kicks but Gomis has a big lead in his distance control, movement, and his hands.
