The Octagon returned to France for today’s UFC Paris event, a 14-bout fight card headlined by Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint Denis.
The highly anticipated lightweight main event resulted in a brutal one-sided beating. Renato Moicano was able to get the fight to the ground in the opening seconds of the first round and proceeded to batter Benoit Saint Denis with a plethora of punches and elbows (see those here). Somehow, ‘BSD’ was able to survive the onslaught and make it out of Round 1. While many expected Moicano to move in for the kill early in Round 2, that didn’t prove to be the case. Instead, the Frenchman was able to mount some decent offense, this while fending off the Brazilian’s takedown attempts. However, at the end of the second round the doctor was asked to come in and check on Saint Denis. Upon his review, the fight was waved off as ‘BSD’ could no longer see.
UFC Paris was co-headlined by a key middleweight bout featuring Brendan Allen taking on Nassourdine Imavov. The contest proved to be a tough back and forth affair. Brendan Allen was able to utilize his grappling skills to smother and control the fight in round one. However, Nassourdine Imavov implemented his sprawl to defend Allen’s takedowns in rounds two and three and was able to piece up the American in the standup. After fifteen minutes of action Imavov was awarded a much-deserved unanimous decision victory from the judges in attendance.
Following the conclusion of today’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that four fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.
Performance of the night: Fares Ziam earned an extra $50k for his brutal third-round knockout victory over Matt Frevola.
What a KO from Fares Ziam 💥 #UFCParis
— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) September 28, 2024
Performance of the night: Chris Duncan pocketed an extra $50k for his first-round submission victory over Bolaji Oki in today’s event-opening bout (see that here).
Performance of the night: Morgan Charriere earned an extra $50k for his second-round knockout victory over Gabriel Miranda (see that here).
Performance of the night: Bryan Battle pocketed an extra $50k for his second-round TKO victory over Kevin Jousset (see that here).
Are you surprised by any of the performance bonuses handed out by Dana White and company following the conclusion of today’s UFC Paris event? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!