UFC 315 in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec saw a fair few French fighters on the card. A pretty consequential card for the welterweight and lightweight division, Jack Della Maddalena‘s victory over the gutsy Belal Muhammad has sealed Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira for the interim lightweight strap at UFC 317. Not just that, but probably also Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev for the welterweight title.
In the co-main event, French UFC star Manon Fiorot put up another noteworthy performance, losing a close decision to women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. ‘Bullet’ even broke Fiorot’s nose in the very first round. But at the press conference, the French-language media were very curious about the fate of the other French title contender in the UFC—#1 ranked middleweight Nassourdine Imavov, coming off a fantastic victory over Israel Adesanya in February. On being asked what is next for the Dagestan native, this is what UFC executive Dave Shaw had to say.
“In terms of what’s next for Nassourdine, I don’t know, other than, you know, we really want to get back to Paris,” Shaw said at the post-UFC 315 presser. “And so the hope is that we’re going to be back in Paris at some point later this year. And if we can’t, then definitely early next year, because we’ve had three straight events at the Accor Arena that have been a massive success… It’s not impossible to have a title shot for a Fight Night, yeah, or maybe it becomes a pay-per-view, there’s a lot of different scenarios.”
Indeed, the UFC has held three sold-out shows in Paris since September 2023. The sport of MMA was illegal in France until recently and was only legalized in 2020. But since its legalization, the country has become a hot spot for the sport of MMA in the EU, which has a significant and enthusiastic fan base there.
Nassourdine Imavov Fra/Bleu vs Joaquim Bucley usa – Middleweight MMA : Soiree UFC 279 – Paris Accor Hotel Arena – 03/09/2022 JBAutissier/Panoramic PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL
The country already has national MMA heroes like Cedric Doumbe, Ciryl Gane, and Benoit Saint Denis, who represent France at the highest level of the sport. And with his stoppage victory over Israel Adesanya, Imavov has joined their ranks.
The next UFC card in Paris could have two title fights on it
Nassourdine Imavov, along with Ciryl Gane, is the biggest French star in the UFC. So it would be a shame to have a UFC card in Paris not featuring the #1 middleweight. And as the top-ranked guy, Imavov does have the best claim to fight the winner of the yet-to-be-announced Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev clash.
So maybe the UFC’s fourth event in Paris would be a numbered PPV event, featuring a title clash with Imavov as the challenger in the main event. And if Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall, who knows, maybe Ciryl Gane, ranked #2 at heavyweight, behind Aspinall, could fight the Englishman for the undisputed title. There is also a good chance that another veritable French UFC star—Manon Fiorot—will be on the UFC’s next Paris card. After all, she put on quite a fight despite a broken nose in the first round, which Shaw found quite impressive.
“It was great. I mean, when you’re up against… she [Shevchenko] is one of the best of all time. I thought Manon was great, I thought she held her own, and she battled hard. I mean I don’t know what else to say other than like, she took her to the limit and she nearly won the fight,” Shaw said when asked what he made of Manon Fiorot’s performance.
While Fiorot did show guts and fought pretty well, many feel she actually underperformed. The French star was actually the betting favorite going into the fight, coming into the fight on a twelve-fight win streak, and also looked much bigger than the Kyrgyz champion. So it would be good for her and the French fans if she fights on the next Paris card, where she can look to get back to winning ways. What do you think about Dave Shaw’s comments about an upcoming UFC card in Paris?
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