Another week, another stunning UFC main event.
Seven days out from Song Yadong’s shock finish of Umar Nurmagomedov, there was another explosive finish to cap off UFC Paris at the Accor Arena on Saturday. Only this time, the result was a little more expected.
Salahdine Parnasse has long been considered one of the best featherweight and lightweight talents outside of the UFC, especially given he claimed titles in both of those weight classes for European promotion KSW. His arrival in the UFC, off a big performance on Netflix earlier this year, was hotly anticipated – and arrived with a bang on Saturday. At the expense of Dan Hooker, who was kicked in the liver, kicked in the head, and felled with a punch to end the UFC Paris main event in under a round.
Parnasse is expected to do big things in the UFC’s lightweight division. Losene Keita, himself a former double-champ for Oktagon MMA in the same weight classes no less, had similar expectations upon his arrival last year. Competing at featherweight, he missed weight for a bout with Patricio Pitbull that was cancelled, then dropped his debut against Nathaniel Wood. At the Accor Arena, however, Keita found his redemption, serving up a stunning knockout of Muhammad Naimov before jumping out of the cage, finding a seat in the stands, and applauding his own performance. One of the most unique victory celebrations in some time.
Both Paranasse and Keita were awarded $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses following the event. With no Fight of the Night announced, two other fighters were also rewarded for their individual efforts. In the co-main event, Axel Sola landed a scary knockout on fellow French lightweight Fares Ziam, who was slow to recover but did eventually get back to his feet. Mario Pinto, meanwhile, put away Ryan Spann, then cut a promo calling out those who have been putting down the heavyweight division in recent times.
In addition to the four Performance bonus winners, Delphine Benouaich, Matthieu Letho Duclos, Modestas Bukauskas, and Kurtis Campbell all earned $25,000 for finishing their fights.
