Salahdine Parnasse folds Dan Hooker in UFC Paris headliner

The
Ultimate Fighting ChampionshipHis fifth return to Paris, France featured 14 fights and the much-anticipated commercial debut of a highly touted contender. In the year
UFC Paris main event, UFC veteran Dan Hooker welcomed French mixed martial arts star Salahdine Parnasse to the octagon in a lightweight clash. Parnasse studied his opponent’s reflexes with some pointers before speaking and attacking with quick strikes. The Frenchman landed a kick to Hooker’s liver, drawing a grimace from Hooker. Former two-division Konfrontacja Sztuk Walk champion
followed by a head kick and a left hook as Hooker retreated to the fence. With a cold calculation, Parnasse knocked Hooker away with a few more punches. Referee Marc Goddard stepped in at the 2:35 mark of the 1st round.

With the win, Parnasse (24-2, 1-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to six and is now 11-1 in his last 12 bouts. Hooker (24-15, 14-11 UFC) finds himself in a three-fight skid for the first time in his career.

The co-headliner featured an exciting matchup between two 155-pound prospects, Fares Ziam and Axel Sola. The pair traded a few kicks on the legs before former Ares Fighting Championship 155-pound champion Sola
connected with an overhand left, immediately dropping Ziam to the canvas. Sola did more damage as Ziam (18-6, 8-4 UFC) was clearly out cold before the referee mercifully intervened. The official end came at 1:40 of the 1st round. Sola (13-1-1, 3-1 UFC) has now won the Octagon with a career seven-fight winless streak.

Earlier, Michael Page (26-3, 5-1 UFC) was on his way to a unanimous decision over middleweight Nursulton Ruziboev (37-10-2, 5-2 UFC). Ruziboev took the action out of the gate to the canvas, but “Venom” limited the damage. In rounds 2 and 3, Bellator MMA alum Page put on his trademark striking and kept his opponent at bay. In the end, the scores read 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Page, who is now 6-1 in their last seven meetings.

“The Ultimate Fighter” season 33 welterweight winner Daniil Donchenko (15-2, 4-0 UFC) outsmarts Punahele Soriano (13-5, 7-5 UFC) to secure a unanimous decision win. The Ukrainian fighter started strong and troubled Soriano early on, but then settled down and did not finish his foe. However, scoring 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 from the judges was enough to keep the momentum going with an eighth straight win.

MMA Academy Liverpool’s Kurtis Campbell (9-1, 1-1 UFC) submitted Dana White’s Contender Series alum Trevor Peek (9-4, 1 NC; 2-4 UFC)
rear naked choke in the third frame of their featherweight affair. Campbell, 24, dominated much of his opponent before finding the finish at 3:07 of the 3rd round. Campbell has finished seven of nine opponents so far.

In the opening of the main card, former two-division Octagon MMA champion Losene Keita (17-2, 1-1 UFC) defeated Muhammadjon Naimov (13-5, 4-3 UFC).
with a nasty shot at 2:54 of the opening framescoring the sixth first-round finish and 11th knockout on his resume.

Paris UFC preliminary results:

On the preliminary card, Felipe Lima (15-2, 3-1 UFC) outpointed Morgan Charriere (21-13-1, 3-4 UFC) on all scorecards (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in their 145-pound affair; heavyweight Mario Pinto (13-0, 4-0 UFC) kept his record unblemished after blasting DWCS graduate Ryan Spann (24-12, 10-7 UFC)
strikes at 55 seconds into the 2nd round; former two-time Cage Warriors 205-pound champion Modestas Bukauskas (21-7, 9-5 UFC) crushed Oumar Sy (12-3, 3-3 UFC) with knees and punches at 3:57 of the second stanza,
finished 15th in his career; promotion rookie Pavel Andrusca (9-0, 1-0 UFC) upset Octagon veteran Nathaniel Wood (23-7, 11-4 UFC) to take home a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in their featherweight bout; former The Way of Warrior defending champion Fabia Sintes (12-3, 1-0 UFC) made a successful promotional debut when he outpointed Michael Aljarouj (13-4, 0-1 UFC) in their flyweight tilt (29-28, 29-28, 29-27), extending his streak to eight; women’s bantamweight Nora Cornolle (10-4, 4-3 UFC) battled to a unanimous decision win over Klaudia Sygula (8-3, 2-2 UFC), with all scorecards showing the Frenchwoman’s favor 30-27; former Hexagone MMA 185-pound champion Matthieu Letho Duclos (11-3, 1-0 UFC) stopped Luis Felipe Dias (18-6, 1-1 UFC)
by strikes at 4:35 of the 1st roundextending his winning streak to five and earning his fifth career first round finish; in a women’s strawweight clash that kicked off the festivities, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 34 alum Delphine Benouaich (8-2, 1-0 UFC) put Sofia Montenegro (6-3, 0-1 UFC) to sleep.
with a vicious rear-naked choke at 4:22 of the second frame for the sixth finish of his career..