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Check out these photos from Nassourdine Imavov’s win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris.
Check out these photos from Nassourdine Imavov’s decision win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
In an insane, all-time heavyweight battle Ciryl Gane delivered violence and sent the French crowd home delighted.
PARIS โ [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] made it a clean sweep for France when he finished [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag] in an all-time heavyweight barn-burner that headlined the UFC’s first-ever card in France.
At UFC Fight Night 209, Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) put away a very tough Tuivasa (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) with strikes at 4:23 of Round 3 โ much to the delight of his home country crowd.
The first round was timid, despite the loud French national anthem sung by the fans in attendance. Both men were heavy on leg kicks. Gane utilized a lot of footwork as many expected. He bounced around the cage as Tuivasa slowly prodded forward, reluctant to waste any energy.
Things exploded in Round 2, however. After he was sliced open by a Gane strike, Tuivasa dropped the former interim UFC heavyweight champion and pounced. Follow-up shots glanced, but the tables quickly turned when Gane countered with a series of body shots. Knees, punches, and kicks caused Tuivasa to wince. The two fighters swung wildly and both clocked the other, as they staggered forward and backward.
LISTEN TO THIS CROWD ๐๐ #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/6oDxfailuA
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 3, 2022
An already deafening French crowd somehow got louder during the fray and the subsequent pump-ups from the fighters. In Round 3, things got a little wild once again. With Tuivasa severely injured by the accumulation of massive body shots, Gane targeted the head. A right hand stunned Tuivasa, who turned sideways. A series of hooks floored the big Australian to the canvas.
Tuivasa ate some shots on the way down as Gane fell on top of him โ and referee Marc Goddard on top of Gane. Accor Arena hit a new decibel in response.
“No words, no words, bro,” Gane told Michael Bisping in the cage after the win. “Just listen to that. Nobody on the planet expected this from the fans of France, bro. But look at this. I’m so happy about this, bro.”
The immediate title picture of the UFC heavyweight division is unclear with champion Francis Ngannou in late stages of injury recovery. Ngannou’s management CAA has claimed his promotional agreement will end in January (per ESPN).
Others in the title conversation include former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who nears three years away from action due to contract disputes as he transitions to heavyweight. Both sides have indicated Jones is ready to compete again, but nothing has been booked.
Meanwhile, former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has not competed since was violently knocked out by Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. Miocic and his wife had a child months later and he has not fought since.
GANE HAD ALL OF FRANCE ON THEIR FEET ๐ฑ #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/EoKcMCbtC7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 3, 2022
All love between these absolute warriors ๐ #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/nCTZAjINiV
— UFC (@ufc) September 3, 2022
Gane, 32, bounces back from his only professional MMA loss to date. At UFC 270 in January, he was defeated by former training partner and current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou via unanimous decision.
Tuivasa, 29, enters the loss column for the first time since October 2019. In a major turnaround, Tuivasa rattled off five wins prior to UFC Fight Night 209 โ a streak has come to an abrupt end.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 209 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
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Check out these photos from Roman Kopylov’s win over Alessio Di Chirico at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag]’s knockout win over Alessio Di Chirico at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
See the top Twitter reactions to Ciryl Gane’s win over Tai Tuivasa in the UFC Fight Night 209 main event.
The hometown hero emerged from the UFC’s debut in France on Saturday when [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] got his hand raised against [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 209.
Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) rebounded from his first career loss against Francis Ngannou earlier this year with a third-round knockout victory over Tuivasa (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in the heavyweight headliner at Accor Arena in Paris.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Gane’s victory over Tuivasa at UFC Fight Night 209.
* * * *
UFC Fight Night 209 takes place Saturday inย Paris, and you can discuss the event here.
PARIS โย MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 209 event at Accor Arena inย Paris, which kicks off at noon ET (9 a.m. PT). You can discuss the event here.
Be sure to follow along with the latest card updates in our UFC Fight Night 209 live results post, and then discuss the event in the comments section below.
Round-by-round updates and official results begin at approximately noon ET for the preliminary card and 3 p.m. ET for the main card.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
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At UFC Fight Night 209, Robert Whittaker picked apart Marvin Vettori en route to a unanimous decision and a bold post-fight statement.
PARIS โ Outside of champion Israel Adesanya, no one at middleweight has been able to beat [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] โ a fact that still remains true Saturday at UFC Fight Night 209.
In the co-main event of the promotion’s debut card in France, Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) defeated [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag] (18-5-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). He then declared himself to best middleweight in the world โ title or no title.
The margin of success in the fight started off razor thin, but widened as the bout progressed. The first round saw both men calmly feel one another out at distance. They each had flurries of success, but no one really had the defining moment that stole the round.
In Round 2, momentum titled toward Whittaker, who utilized his striking to pick apart the slower power-puncher Vettori. With no wasted movement, Whittaker was very conservative with his strikes but successful when they were thrown.
The biggest moment of the fight came in Round 3. As Vettori slowed, a head kick from Whittaker visibly hurt. Vettori was slightly wobbly and Whittaker followed up with a pair of leaping right hands and a knee. Vettori maintained his composure and eventually shot for a takedown. He wasn’t successful, but Whittaker briefly scored one of his own.
In the final seconds, a hard combination staggered a bloodied Vettori once again. The bell rang and moments later Whittaker was named the victor.
“Mate, including the champion I’m the most dangerous man in the division,” Whittaker told interview Michael Bisping in the cage after the decision. “I make people hate fighting. I take the love out of it for them. As for who’s next, I’m always gunning for that top spot. I’m just going to be lurking here waiting.”
Talk that talk @RobWhittakerMMA ๐ฃ #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/ql4yR6nuCW
— UFC (@ufc) September 3, 2022
Whittaker, 31, remains atop the list of UFC middleweight contenders as he moves to 13-0 since 2014 against fighters not named Adesanya. Whittaker’s only two career losses at middleweight were in October 2019 and February 2022 to the current titleholder.
Prior to Saturday’s result, Vettori had a similar claim with his only two losses since 2018 both coming against Adesanya. He moves to 1-2 in his most recent three outings. Vettori is a one-time UFC challenger, who lost a unanimous decision to Adesanya at UFC 263.
๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ reigns supreme! #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/9HDMNRT1BB
— UFC (@ufc) September 3, 2022
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 209 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
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Check out these photos from William Gomis’ debut win over Jarno Errens at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris.
Check out these photos from William Gomis’ decision victory over Jarno Errens at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
See the top Twitter reactions to Robert Whittaker’s win over Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 209.
[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] once again showed where he stands among the middleweight elite Saturday when he beat [autotag]Marvin Vettori[/autotag] in the UFC Fight Night 209 co-main event.
Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC), a former UFC champion, earned a unanimous decision victory over fellow contender Vettori (18-6-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) in the 185-pound matchup, which took place at Accor Arena in Paris.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Whittaker’s victory over Vettori at UFC Fight Night 209.
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Alessio Di Chirico got sloppy against Roman Kopylov at UFC Fight Night 209, and he paid for it with a knockout loss.
PARIS โ [autotag]Alessio Di Chirico[/autotag] got sloppy against [autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 209, and he paid for it with a knockout loss.
After two relatively competitive rounds between the middleweights at Accor Arena in Paris, Kopylov (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) turned up the volume on a tiring Di Chirico (13-7 MMA, 4-7 UFC) and landed a combination that sent his opponent faceplanted to the canvas at the 1:09 mark of Round 3.
Check out the replay of the finish below (via Twitter):
WALK IT OFF ROMAN KOPYLOV!!! #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/n0j0GQw4hs
— UFC (@ufc) September 3, 2022
It was an emphatic way for Kopylov to get his first win under the UFC banner. It was no guarantee he would win on the scorecards, and the Russian was nothing short of pleased to get the job done.
“First round everything was going well, second round everything started to fail,” Kopylov told Michael Bisping through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “I only had one choice to take the fight in the third round. I knew I had to finish to win.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 209 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
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Check out these photos from Nathaniel Wood’s win over Charles Jourdain at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag]’s decision victory over Charles Jourdain at UFC Fight Night 209 in Paris. (Photos by Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)
