5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
The UFC visited Paris, France, last night for its latest event. For the most part, it was a fun show with plenty of decent finishes.
UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis will probably end up overshadowed by next week's pay-per-view, but it definitely threw up some major talking points.
So with plenty to discuss, here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis.
5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
#5. Was Ailin Perez's celebration fun or just plain disrespectful?
One of the better finishes on last night's card came from Argentina's Ailin Perez. It took her just under four minutes to dispatch opponent Darya Zheleznyakova with an arm triangle choke in the event's fourth bout.
After the fight, Perez decided to celebrate in unique fashion. She stood over her fallen foe and twerked in her face.
The celebration instantly went viral, with veteran reporter Ariel Helwani declaring it "disrespectful".
While Perez defended herself by claiming Zheleznyakova had been disrespectful before the fight, it was hard to disagree with Helwani, primarily because the Argentine missed weight for the bout.
Taunting an opponent after missing weight just doesn't feel right, frankly, and it's that issue that may hold Perez back in the UFC despite her riding a four-fight win streak right now.
Overall, this was a great performance from her, but the weight loss - and questionable celebration - left a bit of a bad taste.
#4. Bryan Battle attempted to channel his inner Colby Covington after his win
Given the hot crowd in Paris last night, the overseas fighters matched against French favorites were always going to get somewhat of a hard time.
Quite why welterweight Bryan Battle decided to take things so personally, though, is a mystery. His actions after his win over Kevin Jousset were very close to Colby Covington's infamous behavior in Brazil back in 2017, turning him temporarily into Paris' most hated man.
The fight was largely a back-and-forth one until the second round when Battle turned up the heat on his French foe. He attacked Jousset with non-stop flurries of punches, and eventually, forced referee Herb Dean to step in.
After the fight, though, Battle went into overdrive. Not only did he flip the crowd off, but he then ranted at them on the microphone, telling them to keep booing, and laughed off the idea of "losing in a fist fight to a French dude".
Whether Battle really was rattled by the negative reaction, or whether he was just attempting to drum up publicity is a fair question. After all, Covington famously parlayed his anti-Brazil rant into a big push up the card, even if it made him one of the UFC's most polarising figures.
Battle may need a few more wins like this for that kind of treatment from the UFC. For now, though, he's made himself a talking point - and a hated man in France.
#3. Fares Ziam produced a contender for 2024's best knockout
The main card saw a trio of up-and-coming French stars looking to make their mark. While William Gomis and Morgan Charriere both won their bouts, though, it's fair to say that lightweight Fares Ziam actually stole the show.
Faced with a very tough opponent in Matt Frevola, many fans expected Ziam to come out second-best. After all, 'The Steamrolla' was a step up for the Frenchman, who'd been inconsistent during his UFC run despite a three-fight win streak.
However, perhaps buoyed by the hot crowd, 'Smile Killer' produced a career-best showing. He used his long reach to abuse Frevola both from distance and inside the clinch and largely dominated him on the ground too.
The fight appeared to be heading to the scorecards, though - until Ziam uncorked an insane knee strike from close range late in the third, turning Frevola's lights out.
It was one of the most vicious knee knockouts in recent memory, with the slow-motion replay detailing the moment Frevola was knocked unconscious, his mouthpiece hanging out.
Whether Ziam can now go into contention at 155 pounds is a fair question, but even if he doesn't, he'll always have this iconic moment to his name.
#2. Nassourdine Imavov exposed Brendan Allen's weak points in cruel fashion
Coming into last night's event, Brendan Allen was riding a lengthy seven-fight win streak in the UFC and had avenged his most recent loss in his last bout.
'All In' was hoping for another big win against Nassourdine Imavov, and could well have been pushed into title contention had he pulled it off.
Unfortunately for him, Allen's weaknesses were cruelly exposed by Imavov on a difficult night for him.
'The Sniper' was taken down in the first round, but Allen couldn't do much damage from the top, and seemed to settle for simply smothering his foe instead.
Imavov turned things around from there, though. Focusing on preventing the takedown, the Frenchman began to stay on the outside and worked Allen over with strikes to little answer.
In the end, Imavov received a pretty clear-cut decision win and could find himself in a UFC middleweight title eliminator next time out.
For Allen, though, it could be back to the drawing board, even if he won't fall too far down the ladder.
Coming into the fight, the big question on 'All In' was whether he could beat an opponent capable of stopping his takedown and keeping the fight vertical. Judging by last night, right now the answer to that question is no.
#1. Renato Moicano is on the hottest streak of his UFC career
It's fair to say that last night's headliner didn't go the way that the crowd in Paris would've wished. They were hoping for a violent knockout from their French favorite, Benoit Saint-Denis.
Instead, Saint-Denis was beaten down badly by Renato Moicano, who is now on the best run of his UFC career, with four wins in a row. At this rate, the 35-year-old could become a shock contender for the lightweight title.
Saint-Denis' night turned into a disaster basically from the moment that Moicano took him down in the first round. The Brazilian got into a dominant position, and then unleashed hell on his French foe, battering him with punches and elbows for the entire round.
Saint-Denis was left with a badly cut-up face, and while he bravely fought through the second round, his eyes were so swollen by the end of the stanza that the cageside doctor had no choice. He called off the fight, awarding Moicano a TKO win.
Overall, given the problems that Saint-Denis gave to Dustin Poirier when they fought in March, this was a big showing from Moicano. He'd always been one of those fighters who didn't quite feel like he had enough to get to the next level in the UFC, but judging by this, that might be changing.
He will no doubt be a fighter to keep a close eye on going into 2025.