“It’s not my first time. For me I really enjoy it because gives me some extra motivation. Everybody’s on her (side) so this takes the pressure of winning (off) me,” Cavalcanti told Cageside Press through a translator at her post-fight scrum.

“It gives me more please when I beat her.”

During the fight Fairn fouled Cavalcanti with an eye poke that, upon further review, really seemed to compromise Cavalcanti’s eye. Cavalcanti took some time to recover, but was able to continue.

“Actually it was two fingers not one. So one in each eye. One of the eyes really got affected so I had to stop. Thank God they stopped it (so) I could recover and I could continue to go after my win,” she said.

Eye pokes aside Cavalcanti seemed to get through the fight with no real injuries leaving the end of 2023 as a possibility for one more fight.

“Yes I would love very much to still fight this year again,” she said.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Jaqueline Cavalcanti above.

The post Jaqueline Cavalcanti Says Fairn Poked Both Of Her Eyes, Wants One More Fight In 2023 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Fairn, formerly competing as a featherweight, was faced with the spectre of women’s 145 being mothballed in the UFC, and had missed weight in her last two fights. She did make the catchweight 140lb limit for her fight with Cavalcanti, but 0-3 over her past three fights, her back was against the wall.

Santos was the aggressor early on putting Cavalcanti on her back foot. Not a lot from both was landing other than some outside leg kicks from Cavalcanti. Fairn was coming forward but wasn’t landing anything. Cavalcanti was landing but was committing on anything she was throwing. Cavalcanti did start to pick up the power with an outside leg kick and a few right hands. The best shot Santos landed in round one was an eye poke. A particularly nasty one, that had the doctor taking a close look at Cavalcanti. Luckily, she was able to continue. Not a lot of action to go off on in round one.

More leg kicks from Cavalcanti were landed into round two as Fairn was coming forward. Fairn continued to have problems finding her range with her hands. Cavalcanti did land a nice combination to the head and body. Cavalcanti wasn’t landing with any conviction but was accurate when she was throwing. Continued leg kicks from Cavalcanti was the story of the fight. She started to throw the right hand behind the kicks winning the second round clearly.

In the final round, Fairn was in need of a finish to win this fight. A hard outside leg kick was landed from Cavalcanti to start the round. Fairn landed a good leg kick of her own but ate one and a right hand from Cavalcanti in return. Cavalcanti throughout the fight was using good feints keeping Fairn from throwing much at all. Cavalcanti landed a barrage of punches in the clinch as Zarah Fairn dos Santos tried to rush in. Fairn tried for a takedown at the end of the round but Cavalcanti defended easily. Too little too late, and the scorecards were unanimously in favor of Jacqueline Cavalcanti.

Official Result: Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Zarah Fairn dos Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC Paris: Jacqueline Cavalcanti Endures Nasty Eye Poke, Wins Decision Over Zarah Fairn appeared first on Cageside Press.

With the featherweight division looking like it’s on it’s way out of the promotion Fairn will look to revive it and convince the UFC that it’s worth keeping around.

“I love the challenge. The American people want a story. When Amanda Nunes (left) this division I think the UFC need now to prove the division return with the new girls, with strong girls, and I think president Dana White want a big story,” Fairn told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“He doesn’t like easy fight or a fight (without) a story. And I understand that.”

Fairn (6-5) badly needs a victory, and the more dominant the better, over Cavalcanti on Saturday in order to keep her roster spot, and have a chance to revive the featherweight division.

“When I (started in) the UFC I lose the fight. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, when you want to become a champion sometimes (you) lose the fight to become a champ,” she said.

“And now I’m ready for my first fight for this class and I can do with a big fight, and maybe after this fight, (I can) return to the featherweight class.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Zarah Fairn above. She takes on Jaqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Paris on Saturday.

The post Zarah Fairn Looks To Bring The UFC Featherweight Division Back appeared first on Cageside Press.

The match-up saw France’s Zarah Fairn return, looking to shake off two straight losses in a fight with Brazil’s Josiane Nunes. The bout was the second in on the Rio card, and saw Nunes with a chance to stake her claim as a potential title contender, whenever double champ Amanda Nunes opted to once again defend her 145lb title.

Fairn vs. Nunes was a scrap right out of the gate. Fairn opted to take the fight to Nunes, who fired back looping hooks. Both women were landing, but Fairn was pressing. She landed a volley of uppercuts, one after the other. But Nunes refused to back down, and began to inch forward, firing her hands and mixing in kicks.

Fairn began picking her shots then, mixing in a standing elbow, seemingly very comfortable with the distance. Nunes closed the distance, trying to make things ugly, but Fairn pushed away and landed a combo. Through half a round, the bout had been almost non-stop action. Nunes fired a left that landed. Fairn used her length, landing her jab, then firing a knee up the middle. As the round progressed, Fairn slowed, and Nunes saw her opening. She charged forward with a combo, the crowd erupting behind her. Fairn retreated, then ate another barrage. They tied up, and Nunes landed a right hand off the break — but they’d head to round two with Fairn arguably in the lead.

Round two opened with Josiane Nunes pressing forward immediately. Fairn was still seemingly in search of her second wind. Fairn fired a high kick, but didn’t have much on it, and it was easily blocked. Nunes, walking forward, fired a superman punch, then another. She ripped the body then went high. Fairn, retreating, earned some space by launching a combo. Moments later, Nunes tied things up, pressing her larger opponent up against the fence and firing knees to the thigh. Fairn fired back, broke free, and fired a 1-2. More long, straight punches from Fairn followed.

Coming into the final minute of the second round, Nunes again tied things up along the fence. She fired a knee as the pair jostled for head position. Fairn managed to reverse, only for Nunes to reverse again. Back at center, they pair traded to the bell, Fairn mixing in a knee before Nunes opened up.

While round two had ended up closer at the the end than it had started, Fairn’s corner advised her that she needed the third round. She worked her jab and straight punches early, and reversed quickly when Nunes closed the distance in the opening minute. Fairn appeared much more active in the opening half of the third, her volume clearly turned up a notch. Near the midway mark of the round, Nunes punched her way in, landing her left hand. Fairn was forced to cover up, then retreat, eating some solid blows to head and body.

Fairn survived, after what seemed like a minute-long barrage. With 90 seconds on the clock, it was still anybody’s round. Again, Nunes tried to close the distance, exploding forward and putting Fairn on the back foot. This time, Fairn survived, and pressed forward herself, more straight punches landing on Nunes. In turn, Nunes closed the distance nad landed a left; the final 10 seconds saw them trading at range.

One of the better women’s featherweight fights in recent memory went to the scorecards.

Official Result: Josiane Nunes def. Zarah Fairn by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Zarah Fairn dos Santos (6-4) is set to welcome newly signed Ailin Perez (7-1) at the Fight Night event in Paris, France on September 3, 2022. News of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Fairn subsequently confirmed the match-up on social media. An image attached to the post specified that the bout will take place in the featherweight division.

The French-born fighter Fairn will be competing for the first time since February of 2020 when she steps into the cage at home. She last competed at UFC Norfolk in February 2020, losing via TKO to the now-retired Felicia Spencer. That defeat marked her second straight, following a loss to Megan Anderson the previous year.

Fairn twice had fights booked in 2021, but after badly missing weight for a bout with Josiane Nunes in April that year, she was forced to withdraw. A fight with Joselyne Edwards also fell through in August 2021.

Perez’s signing with the promotion was just recently announced by her management firm, All In Sports Management. She’s won two straight, capturing the SFH Bantamweight Championship last month. The 27-year old from Argentina has previously competed as a featherweight; her only loss came via DQ last November, due to use of illegal knees.

UFC Paris is set to take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France on September 3. The event is expected to be headlined by ranked heavyweights Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa, while a key middleweight match-up featuring Marvin Vettori against former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker has also been announced.

The following bouts have been reported for the UFC Paris card thus far:

• Ciryl Gane vs. Tai Tuivasa
• Katlyn Chookagian vs. Manon Fiorot
• Makhmud Muradov vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
• Robert Whittaker vs. Marvin Vettori
• Zarah Fairn Dos Santos vs. Ailin Perez

The post France’s Zarah Fairn Welcomes Ailin Perez to Octagon at UFC Paris appeared first on Cageside Press.

With the UFC all but disposing of its featherweight division (Megan Anderson is gone, and the only featherweight fight booked currently is Felicia Spencer vs. Danyelle Wolf), bantamweight was really the only move for the French fighter. But Friday morning at the UFC Vegas 24 weigh-ins, disaster struck.

Fairn (6-4) hit the scales heavy, coming in at a whopping 147lbs — which would have been heavy even for featherweight. A UFC.com update that had gone largely unnoticed noted that the bout had been moved to a 139lb catchweight, but that means that Fairn still missed the mark by a full 8lbs.

Opponent Josiane Nunes weighed in at 136lbs Friday morning, right at the bantamweight limit.

Nunes was expected to be making her octagon debut in the bout, which will now have to wait. UFC officials confirmed Friday that the fight had been removed from the card, “due to weight management issues with Zarah Fairn.”

UFC Vegas 24 (UFC on ESPN 22) will now move forward with eleven bouts. A previously scheduled fight between Ricardo Ramos and Bill Algeo was dropped from the card earlier this week due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Currently, UFC Vegas 24 looks as follows:

Main Card

Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Jeremy Stephens vs. Drakkar Klose
Andrei Arlovski vs. Chase Sherman
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Jacob Malkoun
Luis Peña vs. Alexander Munoz

Preliminary Card

Tracy Cortez vs. Justine Kish
Alexander Romanov vs. Juan Espino
Jessica Penne vs. Lupita Godinez
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bartosz Fabiński
Tony Gravely vs. Anthony Birchak
Austin Hubbard vs. Dakota Bush

The post Despite Fight Moving to Catchweight Zarah Fairn Misses Mark by 8lbs, UFC Vegas 24 Bout Scrapped appeared first on Cageside Press.

Josiane”Josi” Nunes
Standing at 5’2″
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
27-years-old
Fighting out of Fazenda Rio Grande, Parana, Brazil
Training out of Astra Fight Team/Striker’s House
A pro record of 7-1
6 KO/TKO

How will Nunes fare in the UFC:

As soon as the fight starts, Nunes comes at her opponents. Nunes comes from a Muay Thai background and has brought it to its full extent in her MMA journey. Always walking forward, Nunes will be seen throwing kicks and looping hooks. When the distance is closer her Muay Thai knees are put on display. Just her constant forward pressure and her ability to not let off the gas has overwhelmed her opponents.

In the same sense, Nunes can be too aggressive and either slow down as the fight goes on or run right into takedowns. Her takedown defense isn’t bad but it’s not UFC level and the same goes for her grappling defense. Nunes moves well off his back but she will struggle against a good grappler. She’s a primarily striker and you won’t see her shoot for a takedown. Nunes isn’t too technical as she focuses mainly on head-hunting her opponents with big hooks, knees, and head kicks. She doesn’t mind at all planting her feet and trading with anyone. Although Nunes is fun to watch a good technical striker will piece her apart.

• Striking: B-
• Kickboxing: C
• Clinch: B
• Wrestling: D-
• Grappling: C-
• Striking Defense: C
• Takedown Defense: C
• Cardio: C
• Biggest Strength: Muay Thai
• Biggest Weakness: Grappling

How does she match up with Fairn:

This is a good fight between two similar fighters. Fairn, like Nunes, has holes when it comes to takedown defense and grappling. I expect this fight to stay on the feet. Fairn lacks any kind of good footwork as she walks in a straight line with her chin up. She has a wide base with a wide stance, and she’s pretty easy to hit and attack the lead leg. Fairn throws with her hips so her strikes are telegraphed and read easily. I see a huge output advantage for Nunes and her being able to overwhelm Fairn. In a full-out striking fight, I favor Nunes due to the volume, aggressiveness, chin, and pace. The pick is Nunes.

The post Welcome to the UFC: Josiane Nunes appeared first on Cageside Press.

L’Equipe was first to report that French fighter Fairn will welcome Josaine Nunes to the UFC on April 17. Nunes would confirm the news on social media.

Fairn (6-4) is still looking for her first UFC win and could be fighting for her job. Until recently, the former featherweight was the lone female French fighter in the UFC (Manon Fiorot recently joined her). Since joining the organization, Fairn has fought nothing but former title challengers through her first two fights for the promotion. Fairn made her UFC debut against Megan Anderson and lost via first-round submission. In her second fight, she would meet Felicia Spencer and lose again via first-round stoppage in her only fight in 2020.

Brazil’s Nunes (7-1) will be making her UFC debut on a hot streak. She is on a six-fight win streak, with five of those wins coming by way of TKO.

The UFC’s April 17 event, UFC on ESPN 22, will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The card currently breaks down as follows:

• Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bartosz Fabinski
• Chase Sherman vs. Parker Porter
• Justine Kish vs. Tracy Cortez
• Tony Gravely vs. Nate Maness
• Natan Levy vs. Austin Hubbard
• Drakkar Klose vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Luis Peña vs. Alexander Munoz
• Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Jacob Malkoun
• Bill Algeo vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Zarah Fairn vs. Josiane Nunes

The post Zarah Fairn vs. Josiane Nunes Set For UFC on ESPN 22 appeared first on Cageside Press.

UFC Norfolk’s co-main event was the second straight co-headlining slot for Canada’s Felicia Spencer. That placement said a lot about the promotion’s hopes for the “Feenom,” who came into the promotion with a submission win over Megan Anderson, then more than held her own in a losing effort against Cris Cyborg at UFC 240.

Opposite her was France’s Zarah Fairn, who had come up short against Anderson in her promotional debut last year. The fight was one of two women’s featherweight scraps on the card, meaning almost the entirety of the weight class in the UFC was in action.

Champ Amanda Nunes was widely believed to be looking to defend her featherweight belt at UFC 250, making this fight, and Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont, an audition of sorts.

There was some nice striking from both ladies to start things off, with Spencer landing a few head kicks and Fairn getting off some nice counter shots. Spencer decided to clinch and got the fight to the ground with a takedown into full mount. After posturing up and landing some huge ground-and-pound, Fairn was hurt very badly. After Fairn endured some big punishment, Spencer picked up the stoppage win via TKO.

With a win in a head-to-head matchup against Megan Anderson and matching her with a first round stoppage, it seems that she’ll be next in line for the belt at featherweight.

1️⃣and done for @FeeNom479! #UFCNorfolk

📺Watch it live on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/LpDBBEI2Iz

— UFC (@ufc) March 1, 2020

Felicia Spencer def. Zarah Fairn by TKO (Ground-and-Pound) in Round 1 (3:37)

The post UFC Norfolk Results: Felicia Spencer Beats Down Zarah Fairn appeared first on Cageside Press.