The UFC returned to Paris, France on Saturday for the second time in the promotion’s history, with MMA in France only being legalized a few years ago. After debuting in the country in 2022, the promotion brought back French heavyweight Ciryl Gane for his year’s UFC Paris, and he got the job done against Serghei Spivac.
Whta’s next for Spivac and the losing side of Saturday’s UFC Paris main card? Read on.
Serghei Spivac
Spivac’s judoka background was made to look completely impotent as he had almost no success in two rounds against Ciryl Gane before being stopped. ‘The Polar Bear’ could not set up his takedown attempts because of Gane’s distance management and he was out-struck until being stopped by the onslaught of blows.
The seventh-ranked Spivac will now look to regain his momentum against an opponent nearer to himself in the rankings like Marcin Tybura. Eleventh-ranked Tybura has a well-rounded skillset that has seen him beat wrestlers and grapplers in the past, making him a good test for if Spivac should stay in the top ten of the heavyweight division.
Spivac’s Next Fight: Marcin Tybura
Rose Namajunas
‘Thug’ Rose’s unsuccessful attempt to move up to flyweight now leaves her in an awkward position. Will she move back down to strawweight, which is perhaps more appropriate for her size, or will she keep trying to achieve double champ status by staying at 125lbs? Given her two victories over current champ Zhang Weili, it makes more sense to go back down to the division where she is one of the greatest.
At 115lbs the logical fight for Namajunas is Amanda Lemos, who is also coming off of a recent loss, for the title no less. Lemos is a powerful striker and will test how close to the top of her game Rose still is after the first losing streak of her career. A win could put Namajunas right back into a title fight in the division against the winner of a potential Weili vs Yan Xiaonan championship bout.
Namajunas’ Next Fight: Amanda Lemos
Thiago Moises
Moises was TKO’d for only the second time in his career when he faced Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris. He could not stand up to the barrage from the home crowd favorite past two rounds. This fight, and his past performances, solidify Moises as one of the premier gatekeepers at lightweight.
Moises should face another rising lightweight who may hit the rankings soon, like Nazim Sadykhov or the winner of Elves Brener vs. Esteban Ribovics. To avoid the possibility of fighting a fellow countryman, Sadykhov makes more sense at this time after his win over Terrance McKinney. But if Ribovics, an Argentinian, were to beat Brener then that fight would make sense too as part of the inter-country rivalry between the neighbors, Brazil and Argentina.
Moises’ Next Fight: Nazim Sadykhov
Bogdan Guskov
Guskov may have lost his UFC debut in Paris but it was against a ranked light heavyweight who is a former title challenger. The fact that he fought at all is a win for Bogdan since it got him to the big show. Now he should fight another 205lb’er who is new in their UFC career.
Turkish fighter Ibo Aslan recently won his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a contract in the process with his first round finish. Guskov and Aslan seem well-matched and both have serious knockout power, making them a smart fight to make next.
Guskov’s Next Fight: Ibo Aslan
Yanis Ghemourri
The ending to the fight was definitely bizarre but no matter how you look at it, Yanis Ghemourri is now 0-1 in the UFC. In the lower weight classes all the opponents are difficult, but Ghemourri has to get a win soon in order to keep his job. His fight at UFC Paris was originally scheduled to be at bantamweight against Caolan Loughran, so its likely that Yanis will move back down to 135lbs next.
Loughran also lost his fight at UFC Paris, so there is no reason not to reschedule that bout, especially given the harsh words the Irishman had for French MMA. Taylor Lapilus already made Loughran eat his words, but if Ghemourri can beat Caolan as well then he would really be doing a service to his country.
Ghemourri’s Next Fight: Caolan Loughran
Manolo Zecchini
Italian fighter Manolo Zecchini continued the struggles his country has had in the UFC as he lost to Morgan Charriere in the first round due to body kicks. With where Zecchini is at now, he should probably fight a debuting fighter, perhaps one who just earned a contract as the new season of the Contender Series is in full swing.
Two weeks ago the undefeated Hyder Amil won his fight and a contract to improve to 8-0 as a professional. A fighter like Zecchini who is all volume and action would test a somewhat inexperienced, but very talented, fighter like Amil. As for Manolo, he really needs a win to get some job security, but there are no easy fights in the UFC featherweight division.
Zecchini’s Next Fight: Hyder Amil
