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.
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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