UFC Paris, Random Land!

After an exciting weekend in Singapore — where Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lost a Korean legend — the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion stays on the road and returns to Paris, France, for a fun night of fights. In UFC Paris’ ESPN+-streamed main event, No. 2-ranked Heavyweight, Ciryl Gane, returns to action against surging No. 7-seeded Serghei Spivac.

While UFC Paris doesn’t have the strongest card with several notable names, it does have some fun fights up and down the card; therefore, before it goes down bright and early on ESPN+, let’s check out some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …

Do Or Die!

Gane returns to action for the first time since getting run through by Jon Jones at UFC 285 earlier this year in March (rewatch it). “Bon Gamin” is 1-2 in his last three bouts, losing to Ngannou and Jones in title fights, and what stuck out like a sore thumb was his subpar wrestling.

He faces another fighter who has wrestling this weekend, and unfortunately, you cannot learn elite wrestling in six months. So, there is a chance he gets taken down again and dominated, which would eliminate him from title contention for at least a year. However, there is also a very good chance Gane lights up Spivac on the feet and looks better than ever, which would put him back into title talks.

It truly is a do-or-die fight.

Main Eventer

Gane fights in his seventh straight main event at UFC Paris. His first main event was a snoozer against Jairzinho Rozenstruik in 2021.

Surging ‘Polar Bear’

Spivac has been on a roll in the past 17 months, finishing his last three opponents within two rounds. In his most recent outing, he tapped fan-favorite, Derrick Lewis, in three minutes with an arm-triangle choke (watch highlights). He has also won six out of his last seven, only falling to top Heavyweight contender, Tom Aspinall.

There is no doubt “Polar Bear” earned his shot against Gane, and a win over him puts him in arms reach of the Heavyweight title.

Flyweight Rose

Rose Namajunas is back and in a new division. After 16 fights at Strawweight — including two Strawweight championship runs — “Thug Rose” makes her Flyweight debut. Namajunas has been out of action since her God-awful fight against Carla Esparza at UFC 274, where she lost her title.

Sixteen months later, Namajuna returns against No. 3-ranked Flyweight Manon Fiorot.

No. 1 Contender Fight?

Last week at UFC Singapore, Erin Blanchfield most likely locked up the next Flyweight title shot with her impressive win over Taila Santos; however, if something memorable happens between Namajuans vs. Fiorot, it wouldn’t be unbelievable for one of them to leapfrog Blanchfield.

Well, let’s be honest: if Namajunas wins, she has the most significant chance to get the title shot because she could become a two-division champion.

France’s Fiorot

Fiorot, unfortunately, missed UFC’s first trip to Paris last year because her fight with Katlyn Chookagian got canceled and rescheduled.

The 33-year-old French fighter has never fought in France, so it should be electric when she makes the walk.

‘God Of War’

Benoit-Saint Denis returns this weekend at UFC Paris, and all eyes should be on this savage. While he got absolutely demolished in his UFC debut by Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos back in 2021, he has looked terrific since and could be a real problem in the Lightweight division. The former Army soldier derailed Ismael Bonfim in his last outing. He also boasts a 100 percent finish rate in his 11 wins and has a very dangerous ground game.

“God of War” faces former Top 15-ranked Lightweight, Thiago Moises.

Welcome To UFC!

Seven fighters are making their UFC debuts this weekend:

• Bogdan Guskov (14-2) faces former UFC Light Heavyweight title challenger, Volkan Oezdemir. Guskov has a 100 percent finish rate.
• Yanis Ghemmouri (12-1) fights William Gomis and is riding a nine-fight win streak.
• Former Cage Warriors Featherweight champion, Morgan Charriere (18-9-1), takes on fellow debutant, Manolo Zecchini (11-3), in the main card opener.
• Former Cage Warriors Bantamweight champion, Caolan Loughran (8-0), faces Taylor Lapilus.
• Nora Cornolle (6-1) fights Joselyne Edwards and has a 100 percent finish rate.
• Former LFA women’s Bantamweight queenpin, Jacqueline Cavalcanti, opens the card against Zarah Fairn.

Welcome BACK To UFC!

Two fighters are returning to UFC after being released from the promotion:

• Taylor Lapilus (18-3) returns to the promotion after spending seven years on the regional scene. The French fighter went 3-1 in UFC from 2015-2016, with his only loss coming to Erik Perez. He was supposed to return when UFC went to Paris last year, but his opponent pulled out. Lapilus faces Loughran.
• Rys McKee (13-4-1) returns to the promotion after going 3-0 and capturing the Cage Warriors Welterweight championship. McKee got the short end of the stick in his first UFC run, being released after two losses, with one of those being Khamzat Chimaev. The Irish fighter faces Ange Loosa.

Moving Up

After 10 fights at Flyweight and two weight misses, Kleydson Rodrigues moves to Bantamweight. The Brazilian is 1-1 in UFC, but could be fighting for his job because his last botched weight cut forced Tatsuro Taira off UFC Jacksonville.

He faces Farid Basharat.

Winners And Losers

Nineteen fighters are coming off wins, while only three fighters are coming off losses.

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• One Heavyweight fight
• One Light Heavyweight fight
• Two Welterweight fights
• One Lightweight fight
• Two Featherweight fights
• Two Bantamweight fights
• One women’s Flyweight fight
• One women’s Bantamweight fight
• One Catchweight (140 pounds) fight (Fairn vs. Cavalcanti)

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, the “biggest” underdog at UFC Paris is Rodrigues at +300.

---

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Paris fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 3 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Paris: “Gane vs. Spivac” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.