The UFC need to come to France every week. What a card! I would say only one fight throughout the whole night was a bit meh, but let's not dwell on that. We had several fight of the night contenders and the card went from strength to strength from exciting prelims to one of the best main cards of the year.
However, before I talk about any fights individually, I've got to give love to the Paris crowd. One of the best UFC crowds ever. I'd only rival them to the Brazilians who themselves are crazy. From start to finish, they were loud. The stadium was 3/4 full from fight one of the prelims, which never happens elsewhere. I can't imagine the atmosphere in the arena.
Ciryl Gane. Give him a second shot at the belt. He and Tai Tuivasa put on a fight for the ages. With a nice feeling-out process in round one, followed by a hectic round two and three, which saw both men rocked and nearly out for the count until Tai couldn't take anymore. An all-out war. Definitely a fight of the year contender.
This followed a Robert Whittaker masterclass where he dominated Marvin Vettori and potentially could've finished him if it was a 5 round fight. Rob retains his number one spot and this fight just shows how clear he and Israel Adesanya are from the rest of the middleweights.
Speaking of middleweights. Joaquin Buckley and Nassourdine Imavov put on a classic. The hatred between these two showed throughout the fight and despite being 2-0 down. Buckley gave a performance of a lifetime in round three, but couldn't find a finish to steal the win.
I am now a William Gomis stan. Two newcomers in him and Jarno Errers put their names on the map with great performances and a beautiful display of MMA across three rounds. I can't wait to see them return to the octagon later this year or next year. Definitely two names to look out for in the featherweight division.
Nathaniel Wood beat Charles Jourdain in the most technical fight of the night. Both men displayed beautiful pocket boxing, with Wood being a step ahead throughout the fight. His power definitely helped him win as he rocked Jourdain a couple of times during the 15 minutes.
Abus Magomedov is a problem for the middleweight division. 19-second victory in his debut. He's put the division on notice. I'd like to see him pushed since he's 32 already. Give him someone either top 15 or just outside of that.
There's so much that happened throughout the card tonight. This definitely goes toe to toe with UFC London 1, as my favourite card of the year. I'd rate it 9/10.
We have to come back to France next year.
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