The tricolor faultless, show and atmosphere of madness but also some disappointments… Find out what caught the attention of our journalists present at the Accor Arena.
FAVORITES
Full card for the Blues
The French fighters received 5 out of 5. Inevitably under pressure for the great premiere of the UFC on the territory, the Frenchies responded by winning each their duel. Starting with the one whose head was plastered all over Paris, Ciryl Gane, winner by KO, as he had promised. “Bon Gamin” was surely inspired by the first French winner on home soil a few hours earlier: Benoît Saint-Denis. The Nîmes started the fireworks by crushing his opponent, the modest Gabriel Miranda, knocked out in the first seconds of the 2nd round to leave with the bonus of “performance of the evening “. Two knockouts and three victories by decision, for Fares Ziam, William Gomis and Nassourdine Imavov, all heroic to seek victory at the end of themselves, carried by a public in madness.
Read alsoUFC Paris: Gane wins his fight by KO against Tuivasa (video)
Big night atmosphere
«We wondered about the reception in Paris but there is no longer any doubt, France has one of the very best audiences on the planet..” In the general euphoria following her knockout at the end of the evening, Ciryl Gane wanted to greet the incandescent public of the Accor Arena. A sold-out Bercy and certainly there from start to finish. Quickly stocked upon the arrival of Benoît Saint-Denis, the POPB roared to the sound of “Kill it!” and surges that accompanied each high kick. “Sold out” in about ten minutes, the event, which officially broke Bercy’s ticketing record (3.4 million euros) confirmed that France was a buoyant market for the UFC. “It was our will and we can’t wait to come back here“, confirmed in the evening David Shaw, the vice-president of the organization.
The freshness of William Gomis
First match and first victory in UFC for William Gomis. In the last seconds of his fight, strangled by a triangle, the Frenchman proposed a remarkable defense to get out of the submission attempt of Jarno Errens. A remarkable technicality that woke up the whole Accor Arena: “It was very complicated because the triangle was taken, I was tight in it then I heard all my public shouting and I said to myself no, I prefer to die than to give up, we are in Paris here” he explained to the microphone, then paying tribute to his mother. By winning his fight against the Dutchman on Saturday evening, the “Jaguar” not only won a duel in the octagon, he also won the hearts of the Parisian public, excited at the idea of attending his debut in the American organization after great performances at Ares Fighting. His smile, his sympathy and his humor in the mixed zone also impressed the journalists present.
Read alsoUFC Paris: “Rather die than give up, we are in Paris”, William Gomis overcomes Jarno Errens
Show on tap
Like Ciryl Gane’s latest TKO, the show lit up the UFC premiere in Paris. Special mention to Benoît Saint-Denis, to the electric duel between Nassourdine Imavov and Joaquim Buckley or even to the expeditious KO of Abus Magomedov (19 seconds). With very rare exceptions (see below), the rhythm sometimes fell, before being quickly caught up by the enthusiasm of Bercy, heated by the emblematic announcer Bruce Buffer, who had made the trip for the occasion. From the first fight between Stephanie Egger against Alin Perez to the Gane-Tuivasa apotheosis, the evening was therefore successful in all respects, proving the American organization right in the choice of fighters.
CLAW STRIKES
Whittaker-Vettori, palms of boredom
Attractive on paper, the co-main event which pitted Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori against each other gave birth to an oven. The two contenders for the crown of middleweight king, confiscated by the Nigerian Israel Adesanya, fought a boring fight. Despite a noisy Italian colony perched in a bend in Bercy, Vettori never deluded himself against a precise if not brilliant Whittaker. He who repeats to anyone who will listen that he is “most dangerous man in classmissed an opportunity to prove it. And the competition is watching behind, starting with Nassourdine Imavov, with an increasingly assertive appetite.
Read alsoUFC Paris: Imavov triumphs over Buckley at the end of the effort
One female fight
Scheduled to open, Stéphanie Egger and Alin Perez had the heavy task of launching this historic evening. But behind the KO of Switzerland, who came to replace the Frenchwoman Zarah Fairn dos Santos at short notice, there was nothing left. In any case to highlight the fighters of the American organization, the rest of the card being occupied exclusively by male fights. We especially regret the absence of the French number 1, Manon Fiorot, injured. The Niçoise will have plenty of time to recover in October in Abu Dhabi against a size: the world number 1, Katlyn Chookagian.
Charles Jourdain misses the mark
Arrived at the sound of the rapper Booba, who was performing a few kilometers away, Charles Jourdain was not up to the event. Acclaimed when he entered the track, the Quebecer moved a lot but rarely touched his opponent, Nathaniel Wood. More strategic and then more clinical, the Briton was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Highly anticipated, the Canadian missed his exit.