Morgan Charriere is one of numerous newcomers set to make their debut at UFC Paris on Saturday. The card is headlined by France’s own Ciryl Gane, taking on Serghei Spivac. In this case, Charriere is facing a debuting fighter himself, Manolo Zecchini.
Morgan “The Last Pirate” Charriere
Standing at five-foot-seven
Fighting at 145 lbs (featherweight)
27-years-old
Fighting out of Poissy, France
Training out of Team Chapa Quente
A pro record of 18-9-1
10 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions
How Charriere will fare in the UFC:
It’s good to finally have Charriere in the UFC. He’s been fighting MMA professionally since 2014 and is still only 27-years-old. Since signing with Cage Warriors in 2019 Charriere has built a name for himself as he has a huge following. His last two losses are to Jordan Vucenic and Paul Hughes and he arguably won those fights. Charriere is the former Cage Warriors featherweight champion. He’s on a current three-fight win streak.
Charriere is a quality fighter in every facet of the game. He’s never going to get outclassed anywhere because he’s extremely talented everywhere. Charriere is patient but cerebral in his fighting style. He never presses a crazy pace but can go three rounds no problem at all. Most of his wins are by TKO but he has submission wins and has gone the distance thirteen times (five wins) so he’s well versed absolutely.
On the feet is where Charriere does his best work. Charriere is technical, patient, and thought-out in his striking. He’s not a volume striker but he picks his shots so well and waits for the proper opening. He will pick away on the outside with the jab, heavy leg kicks, and using feints. His head movement is wonderful as he does a great job rolling with punches. He’s also perfected the check hooks and slip counters due to his head movement. Charriere has the vision mixed in with his shot placement and power are a great mixture. He throws a nasty left hook to to the body that he’s been using a lot of lately. Some could win the striking battle with Charriere off throwing more volume but hardly anyone has done that.
In the wrestling and grappling Charriere isn’t as clean but he knows what he’s doing. Charriere has some nice timing on his level changes. Even more impressive is he can cut the corner and adjust takedowns if he wanted to. He’s also good in the clinch with control, trips, and throws to get the fight down. His Jiu-Jitsu is competent. His ground and pound is brighter than his grappling. Defensive he’s got solid takedown defense and when taken down he doesn’t stay there long.
Overall, Charriere is a great signing from the UFC. He’s very good and there isn’t a lot of guys that match his style. Featherweight is a murder’s row but I still believe Charriere could be ranked in the top 15. Charriere is a tough match-up for anyone. He doesn’t have any glaring holes outside of just being more aggressive. Watch for Charriere because he’s a quality fighter.
Manolo “Angelo Veneziano” Zecchini
Standing at five-foot-eight
Fighting at 145 lbs (flyweight)
26-years-old
Fighting out of Venezia, Italy
Training out of Fighters Angels
A pro record of 11-3
9 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission
How will Zecchini fare in the UFC:
I didn’t understand the Zecchini signing at first but in the end, I do. Zecchini is coming to the UFC off a highlight-reel knockout in his last fight. He’s another hopeful from Italy who could maybe carry the flag at a high level.
How these two match up:
I understand the signing of Zecchini, and the match-up, because they are trying to get Charriere a win in his home country. I don’t see how Zecchini can win this because he sure isn’t knocking out Charriere. Charriere is much better on the feet from the small things to the big things. Charriere could even get this fight down to mix it up. Charriere should be like a -1000 favorite.
