Renato “Moicano” Carneiro could be a dark horse contender for “Fighter
of the Year.” With wins over Drew Dober
and Jalin
Turner, Carneiro cemented himself as an elite lightweight
contender with a bloody beatdown of Benoit St.
Denis in front of thousands of opposing French fans in the
UFC Fight Night 243 main event Saturday at the Accor Arena in
Paris.
Carneiro (20-5-1) battered St. Denis throughout the opening stanza,
busting his eyes and nose open with elbows and nasty
ground-and-pound. The “God of War” was forced to cover up and wait
out the bell to find peace. St. Denis’ corner pleaded with him to
wake up or he would be humiliated in front of his hometown fans,
but there was little he could do to slow down the Brazillian.
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Caneiro kept the leather on St. Denis in the second round. With
both eyes swollen and blood profusely leaking out his face, St.
Denis sat on the stool, stunned, as his corner worked to clean him
up. Their work was impressive, but not enough to convince the
cageside doctor not to stop the fight before the third round.
Carneiro’s TKO victory builds on a very impressive 2024 campaign
for the foul-mouthed contender. Carnerio’s post-fight rants are as
engaging as his fights, and he looks to tear into the Top 10 of a
loaded lightweight division.
Middleweight contenders Brendan
Allen and Nassourdine
Imavov risked their position in the division to potentially
advance closer to an elusive title shot in the UFC Fight Night 243
co-main event. Allen looked loose and comfortable early, putting
the Paris puncher on his back. Allen ignored pleas for work from
Herb
Dean and simply smothered the Imavov to take the first
round.
Imavov was ready for Allen’s wrestling in the second and stuffed
three straight takedowns from the Milwaukee native. Imavov’s class
showed itself on the feet over the next two rounds, as the French
hopeful snapped Allen’s head back with punches and knees. Allen was
so determined to take Imavov back to the mat, he abandoned his
striking as Imavov surged ahead on the scorecards. In the end, the
fight was close, but a clear unanimous victory for Imavov (29-28,
29-28, 29-28).
The pride of Paris, William
Gomis, put his 11-fight win streak on the line against fellow
featherweight Joanderson
Brito. The fight was fought at a blistering pace and would
ultimately come down to the final seconds. With his streak on the
line, Gomis outworked Brito over the last minute to snatch away a
split-decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Brito (17-4-1) carried a five-five win streak and a high-energy
twitchy style that stunned Gomis early. While trying to toss Brito
to the mat, Gomis opened himself to a gut-wrenching knee to the
body. Brito closed the round with an eye-catching right hand and
momentum. Brito showed off some of his grappling in the second,
catching Gomis in a potential arm triangle, but the Frenchman
wasn’t phased. Gomis worked his way out and landed several shots on
the break to sway the round favorably.
Gomis’ (14-2) best round came in the third, as the Paris native dug
deep and finally started outworking the quick-fisted Brazilian.
Gomis let his hands go and threatened a guillotine as Brito
struggled to find his footing. With Gomis finishing the fight more
vigorously and the first two rounds too close to score, the
hometown favorite did enough to take the edge in a razor-thin
battle.
Move over Duke of Wellington, France has a new enemy, and his name
is Bryan
Battle. The surging welterweight was seemingly prepared to
fight the entire arena after capping off his technical knockout win
over Kevin
Jousset 3:47 into Round 2.
As his name insinuates, Battle (12-1, 1 NC) likes to scrap. The
Charlotte native’s first fight of 2024 was called due to an
accidental eye poke, and the time off only fueled “The Butcher’s”
hunger to grow his two-fight win streak. Battle took control of the
cage and worked behind his jab. Looking to secure an early
takedown, Battle worked for a single leg but was dumped on his face
twice. Laughing off the embarrassment, Battle bit down on his
mouthpiece and chose to duke it out instead.
Throughout a hellacious second round, Battle and Jousset traded
punches furiously, but while the French-born fighter looked to
collect his wind, Battle pressed forward with more punches. Two,
three, four, and even five-punch combos overwhelmed Jousset as his
back hit the fence. He was outgunned and was at Battle’s mercy
until Herb
Dean halted the action. Embracing the boos from the crowd,
Battled circled the cage with dual middle fingers for his newfound
friends.
Morgan
Charriere bleeds the French colors, and little could stop him
from rediscovering his groove in front of thousands of his
passionate countrymen. Charriere rebounded from a split-decision
loss in his last fight with a definitive second-round knockout win
over Gabriel
Miranda. The featherweight bout came to an end 27 seconds into
the second stanza.
While Miranda (17-7) is a nightmare on the ground and has locked
down 16 career submissions, Charriere does his best work on the
feet. Both fighters spent the first round looking to drag the fight
into their world. Charriere had little interest entering Miranda’s
guard and fought off his takedowns as much as he could, but Miranda
still dictated the pace.
Looking to continue his strong start, Miranda pressured Charriere
early in the second. The Brazillian loaded an overhand that missed
by a mile. Charriere went for the body lock but bailed when Miranda
twisted out the opposite way. Charriere made Miranda pay for taking
his eyes off him and dropped him with a sledgehammer of a left
hand. Miranda crumbled to the floor, forcing referee Marc Goddard
to intervene. Charriere (20-10-1) capped off his beautiful knockout
by leading the crowd in a sing-along of La Marseillaise, the French
anthem
France’s Fares Ziam
opened the UFC Paris main card with the most impressive performance
of his young career. After serving up a well-rounded beatdown over
two rounds, the “Smile Killer” brought jubilation to the Accor
Arena with a devastating knockout over Matt
Frevola 2:59 into the third round.
The Steamrolla (11-5-1) came into the fight looking to bounce back
from a first-round knockout loss to Benoit St.
Denis but found a multitude of problems in the lanky Kill Cliff
FC prospect. Ziam’s length tormented Frevola from a far, his clinch
work make life hard at close range and Ziam’s crafty grappling kept
the American on the defensive. Looking to survive, Frevola hoped to
hang on a survive the final two minutes but was put to sleep after
eating a flush knee on the break. Frevola was out cold as the crowd
erupted for their countryman. With the win, Ziam improved to 16-4,
picking up his fourth straight win in the lightweight division.
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