The UFC ventured to Paris for the fifth time in the promotion’s history on Saturday. It’s now been nearly seven years since the sport of MMA was legalized in the country of France. This time, the UFC Paris card featured nine French fighters including three in the six fights on the main card. In the main event, Salahdine Parnasse made his promotional debut as he took on a ranked veteran in Dan Hooker. In the co-main event, a French showdown, between Axel Sola and Fares Ziam. Both the co-main and main event fights ended in first round finishes. Four of the six fights on the main card were stopped before the final bell sounded.
Dan Hooker
Salahdine Parnasse took just half a round to find the perfect body kick and follow up strikes to stop (#12) Dan Hooker in the main event Saturday. The finish earned Parnasse a performance bonus in his promotional debut. As for Dan, the 36-year-old is now 14-11 with the UFC since being signed in 2014. Hooker has lost his last three straight and been finished in each (Arman Tsarukyan, Benoit Saint Denis). What a turn of events as Hooker was on a 3-0 run in the stretch before the losing streak.
Hooker’s next fight should be against the loser of Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev. Dawson is currently rounding out the rankings at lightweight so that’ll keep this a lucrative bout for Hooker. Dan has cemented himself as the gatekeeper of the rankings for the highly competitive lightweight division. Dawson and Aliev are scheduled to fight on October 24th, so the timing isn’t the greatest. Dawson is 12-2 with the UFC since being signed in 2019. Nurullo is 4-0 since coming of the 2022 season of the Contender Series. Giving Hooker the loser of this bout could make a lot of since, both fighters have stellar records but are missing that ‘name-power’ on their respective fight resumes. Hooker could provide that matchup, and winner could potentially sneak into the rankings. This could also potentially be a small APEX card main event, or at least in a co main event slot.
Hooker’s next fight: Loser of (#15) Grant Dawson vs. Nurullo Aliev
Fares Ziam
Axel Sola landed a nasty overhand right on Fares Ziam early in the first round on Saturday. The shout put Ziam out cold. The scary KO also earned Axel a performance bonus. ‘The Smile Killer” now falls to 18-6 as a pro and 8-4 while under the UFC’s banner. Ziam has now lost two in a row, after losing a unanimous decision to Tom Nolan back in June. Prior to that, Ziam was riding an impressive 6-fight win streak- how the tables have turned.
For Ziam’s next fight, he should take on Kaue Fernandes. Ziam was scheduled to take on Kaue last September. Both fighters have had just one fight since the canceled bout, and both have been stopped in the first round. Perfect one to rebook here. Fernandes is 3-2 in the UFC, but his first loss was his debut in 2023 (split decision to Marc Diakiese). In his last time out, he took on the formerly ranked, Jalin Turner. Good matchup and great reset fight for both fighters. Could easily be on the main card of a fight night card.
Ziam’s next fight: Kaue Fernandes
Nursulton Ruziboev
(#8) Michael Page turned in yet another nearly flawless striking and distance control clinic on Saturday with his unanimous decision victory over (#15) Nursulton Ruziboev on the main card of UFC Paris. Nursulton just could not solve that tricky puzzle that is ‘MVP’. Ruziboev now falls to 5-2 with the UFC. Ruziboev’s other loss within the UFC came to Joaquin Buckley in 2024, he was riding a 3-fight win streak since then.
Nursulton’s next fight should be against Kelvin Gastelum. This is pick works especially well if Nursulton is on the shelf for a while after this loss due to injury. Kelvin recently withdrew from his fight against Yousri Belgaroui this month so potentially that’s a matchup that could line up. Kelvin is 2-2 in his last four fights and is coming off a first-round stoppage loss to Vicente Luque back in April at UFC 327. Interesting, fan-forward matchup here that could easily land on the undercard of a PPV card and with a win either fighter could sneak into the rankings (assuming Nursulton slides out of the middleweight ranks with potential injury-caused inactivity).
Ruziboev’s next fight: Kelvin Gastelum
Punahele Soriano
Daniil Donchenko turned in a dominant performance on Saturday against Punahele Soriano to stay undefeated within the UFC. Soriano now falls to 13-5 as a pro and is 7-5 with the promotion. This loss snapped an impressive win streak for Soriano which saw him defeat Miguel Baeza, Nikolay Veretennikov, Ramiz Barahimaj and stop Uros Medic.
For Soriano’s next fight he should take on Joel Alvarez. Joel fought on the prelims of UFC 330 last month and lost a unanimous decision to Chidi Njokunai. That brought Joel’s UFC record down to 8-4 and gave him the first losing streak of his career. Alvarez is now 1-2 since moving to the welterweight division in 2025. Joel went 7-2 in the lightweight division losing only to Damir Ismagulov in his debut (2019), and Arman Tsarukyan in 2022. But he missed weight ahead of two of his lightweight performances. Great matchup here that also respects the win streak the Soriano went on prior to this. And Alvarez is still trying to find his footing within the weight class.
Soriano’s next fight: Joel Alvarez
Trevor Peek
Kurtis Campbell notched the first victory of his UFC career on Saturday as he forced Trevor Peek to tap in the final round of their bout on the main card of UFC Paris. Peek, a 2022 Contender Series product, has proved himself to be extremely entertaining but still possess a promotional record of 2-4. Peek is now on a 3-fight skid and that was the first time he’s been stopped as a pro. His victories within the UFC are against Erick Gonzalez and Mohammad Yahya (neither of which are still with the promotion).
Trevor is in a bit of a hot seat here. His next fight should be against the loser of Sean King vs. Jessie Rosas. That fight goes down on the 12th, so the timing won’t be an issue. Both are making their promotional debuts. Rosas who is 8-1` was supposed to make his debut against Miles Johns last month but withdrew. Johns is 7-5, 1 NC with the UFC. Sean King is 6-0 as a pro and at 22-years-old has only gone the distance one time. He turned pro last year. Huge asterisk by this pick, as who knows what will go down with two fighters making promotional debuts. But, with that said surely Peek’s position with the promotion is in jeopardy. This would be an entertaining fight either way, with the winner liking staying on the roster however way each of those fights go.
Peek’s next fight: Sean King vs. Jessie Rosas loser
Muhammad Naimov
Losene Keita kicked off the main card of UFC Paris on Saturday with a vicious overhand right KO that floored Muhammad Naimov in the first round. The performance earned Keita a bonus and was his first win with the UFC, after losing his debut. Muhammad is now 5-3 with the UFC since being signed in 2023. Naimov started off hot, winning three in a row but is now on a 2-fight losing skid, and has been finished in both appearances.
Muhammad’s next fight should be against Morgan Charriere. Morgan just before Naimov in the feature prelim spot, on the undercard on Saturday. He lost a unanimous decision to Felipe Lima. Charriere is now 3-4 with the promotion since being signed in 2023. Before Morgan’s fight with Lima he was finished, via head kick, by Melquizel Costa in 74 seconds. It was the first time that Morgan had been finished as a pro fighter. Charriere hasn’t stopped reeling from this fight and one could even make the argument he hasn’t quite found his footing within the UFC. This could be a solid action-packed fight to see who could bounce back from somewhat similar circumstances, and a pretty similar timetable.
Naimov’s next fight: Morgan Charriere
