
Fares Ziam gets home fight vs. Kaue Fernandes at UFC Paris on Sept. 6
Instead, Ziam (17-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) draws rising contender Kaue Fernandes (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on Sept. 6 at Accor Arena in Paris, promotion officials announced Thursday.
Winner of seven of his past eight fights, Ziam extended his winning streak to five when he defeated Mike Davis by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 250 in February. Prior to that, he scored a Knockout of the Year contender over Matt Frevola when he flattened him with a knee to earn his first bonus at UFC Fight Night 243.
After dropping his UFC debut to Marc Diakiese, Fernandes stopped Mohammad Yahya by first-round TKO at UFC on ABC 7, followed by a unanimous decision win over Guram Kutateladze at UFC Fight Night 255 in March.
With the addition, the current UFC Paris lineup includes:
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 319 co-main event
Aaron Pico will still get a big opportunity in his promotional debut at UFC 319. Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico preview Pico (13-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) originally was scheduled to make his octagon debut against No. 1-ranked featherweight Movsar Evloev at UFC on ABC 9 in Abu Dhabi, but the bout was scrapped when Evloev withdrew. Instead, Pico gets No. 6 ranked Lerone Murphy in the UFC 319 co-main event in Chicago. Unbeaten in his professional MMA career, Murphy (16-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC) is on an eight-fight winning streak, and is coming off a main event win over Josh Emmett at UFC on ESPN 65 in April. Meanwhile, Pico hasn't competed since a first-round TKO of Henry Corrales in February 2024. Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico odds According to FanDuel, Murphy is a slight +124 underdog against UFC newcomer Pico, who's a -158 favorite. How to watch Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico at UFC 319


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Karol Rosa wants former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva after UFC on ESPN 71
LAS VEGAS – Karol Rosa met the media Saturday after her win over Nora Cornolle at UFC on ESPN 71. Rosa (19-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) got some resistance in the first round from Cornolle (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex. But in the second, Rosa turned on the afterburners and dominated Cornolle for a 10-8 round from two of the judges. After that, she cruised back into the win column. Rosa won her first four fights in the UFC, but since then has alternated losses and wins for eight bouts. Perhaps even more amazingly, her fight with Cornolle was her 12th straight trip to the judges' scorecards. Afterward, she called out a fellow Brazilian: former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva. Silva lost a women's bantamweight title shot against then-champ Raquel Pennington in early 2024, which started her current three-fight skid. She was set to fight Joselyne Edwards this week at UFC on ESPN 72, but pulled out. Still, Rosa wanted to shoot her shot since Bueno Silva is above her in the rankings. Check out Rosa's post-fight news conference in the video above.


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Chael Sonnen says it's unfair to question Khamzat Chimaev's conditioning ahead of UFC 319
Chael Sonnen doesn't see Khamzat Chimaev's cardio being a cause of concern at UFC 319. Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) challenges middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in the Aug. 16 main event at United Center in Chicago (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Many pundits and fighters have predicted the Chimaev vs. Du Plessis fight in the same way – if Chimaev can't finish Du Plessis early, he likely will get outlasted. But Sonnen disagrees. "Chimaev has got to get him down," Sonnen told MMA Junkie. "He can't just go fight him anywhere. Then there's a big question around Chimaev's conditioning. I don't know if that's fair. We've seen Chimaev get exhausted. Fedor (Emelianenko) used to get exhausted, but he never stopped. It never slowed him down. And it's the same thing with Chimaev. "I don't think it's fair to question his conditioning. I think he's got a bunch of energy and he uses it all, which is what he's supposed to do. That's going to get tested and we are going to find out if that's accurate. I am also giving Dricus a lot better of a look than I was when Chimaev beat Whittaker and the fight got announced." Sonnen, a two-time UFC middleweight title challenger, says this weight class is more stacked with talent than it's ever been. He thinks the winner of Du Plessis vs. Chimaev needs to be rewarded even more than just holding the UFC belt. "As the king of middleweights – and I will tell you when I had my run I had no equal, I was not losing fights, I was not losing rounds, I was not losing moments of fights – but I will tell you I didn't have anything as difficult as it is today," Sonnen said. "We had one or two guys that, at that time, could be top-five guys now. Maybe three guys that fit into the top 10. I have never seen 185 so hard. I don't know who the best guy is. "I always assumed it was Chimaev because that's what we were told every day. But all of a sudden this guy named Dricus steps forward. ... It is murderer's row. One thing I will accurately tell you about middleweight: Whoever comes out of this fight doesn't just leave with the championship; they need to be moved in the pound-for-pound rankings. If you're the champion of 185, and it's deeper than it's ever been, that needs to be considered – and I don't think it will be. I don't think people are realizing this weight class has never been this difficult." To hear more from Sonnen, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.