PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 05: Salahdine Parnasse of France battles Dan Hooker of New Zealand in their middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at The Accor Arena on September 05, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Yesterday (Sat., Sept. 5, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Accor Arena in Paris, France, for UFC Paris. In the main event, perhaps the top free agent in the sport Salahdine Parnasse finally made his way to the Octagon opposite veteran brawler Dan Hooker. In addition, several of Europe’s top MMA fighters like Fares Ziam, Michael Page, and Losene Keita made their way to the cage, surrounded by the cheers and jeers of a very enthusiastic French crowd. Let’s take a closer look at the best performances and highlight finishes of the evening: Parnasse Lives Up To The Hype Parnasse vs. Hooker was a competitive kickboxing match until suddenly it was not. Hooker certainly came to fight. The massive underdog was active right away, probing with kicks and straight punches. Several times, he blocked a Parnasse kick and returned fire by chopping to the inner thigh. Slowing down the Frenchman was clearly a strategy from the Hooker camp, which makes a lot of sense … because Parnasse was on a different level of speed than his older opponent. For most of the short fight, Parnasse and Hooker were trading kicks. Neither man had found his punching range yet when Parnasse snuck a liver kick under the elbow. Hooker is known for his toughness and grit, but he couldn’t disguise the agony from that blow. He nearly hit the canvas, instead falling along the fence and covering up. Parnasse blasted him with a glancing high kick then feinted into a crushing left hook, which put Hooker on the canvas for good. Often, power and finishing ability don’t translate as a fighter moves up the ranks. The average level of athlete and durability improves, and the same blows that produce quick knockouts instead produce dominant decisions. That’s the nature of climbing the combat ladder, but Parnasse appears to be the rare exception who can put away even elite opponents consistently. The Max Holloway callout would be an electric scrap … or another quick KO? Sola One Shots Ziam In the battle of French Lightweights, Axel Sola shocked the audience, commentators, and viewers around the globe. He certainly shocked Fares Ziam, who was moving nicely for the 100 or so seconds the fight lasted. Looking to rebound from a frustrating loss, Ziam was the aggressor early on, flashing his jab and lining up some powerful right kicks that were finding the target. Sola patiently watched his foe work, feinted a bit, and then lined up an absolute left hand from hell. Ziam actually countered the punch with a sneaky little elbow … that didn’t matter at all. Sola punched right through that resistance without his momentum faltering, and his left hand crashed into the jawline. Ziam was unconscious with his eyes open, slept by a singular punch. It’s the first knockout loss of his career, as well as the first time he’s lost consecutive bouts. Three months ago, he was a ranked Lightweight on the rise. That role shifts to Sola, who improves to 3-1 in the UFC and could have a number by his name in a few days. I still feel that there’s much to learn about the 28-year-0ld athlete, who has won most of his UFC fights quickly. At a minimum, he clearly has a knack for timing powerful connections! Black Panther Strikes THIS is the performance that was expected from Losene Keita in his UFC debut. The Belgian talent was the face of confidence right away, walking down Muhammad Naimov with his finger on the counter-punching trigger. At first, Keita was setting up body shots, but he was soon timing and punishing Naimov with counter combinations. A counter overhand right-left hook combination floored Naimov, and the hurt kept coming. Within a minute, Keita landed two more knockdowns. A stiff jab sat his foe down, and then a crushing right hand to the jaw put him completely out. It was a controlled demolition, a showcase of the accuracy and power that made Keita such a dominant force in OKTAGON. Awkward debut loss aside, Keita clearly has potential and just gave U.S. fans a proper introduction to his skills. A Surprising Debut Undefeated Pavel Andrusca was a major underdog opposite streaking veteran Nathaniel Wood. Andrusca accepted the bout on short notice and up a weight class, yet he took the fight to Wood. Andrusca was looking to wrestle but set up the shot well, feinting level changes and using right hands to disguise his entries. He was able to drag down Wood repeatedly, and whenever the Englishman scrambled back to his feet, Andrusca was sure to land on the break with elbows and right hands. In round two, Wood landed a cracking right hand that floored Andrusca. Despite the damage, Andrusca went right back to work with his wrestling and even threatened a submission. After all the energy expenditure, Andrusca still had the gas to push the pace heavily in round three and take a clear-cut decision win. The 24-year-old Moldovan looks like a real talent. As for Wood, this upset loss erases his momentum. He was knocking on the door of a ranking but no longer. In truth, Wood still feels a bit small for Featherweight. Andrusca is a Bantamweight and was still able to muscle him around and rack up control time. For all of Wood’s technical skill and savvy, size and strength are likely to hold him back if he remains at 145 pounds. Additional Thoughts Kurtis Campbell defeats Trevor Peek via third-round rear naked choke: Man … Peek is f—king awful. I know we all love a silly meme fighter, but Peek is simply not UFC caliber. Campbell beat the absolute crap out of him here, timing big counters, high kicks, and clean knees before realizing he could easily dominate on the canvas. Peek’s grappling from bottom consisted solely of toughness and grit, meaning that Campbell spent about ten minutes roughing him up before finally locking in the submission overtop the jawbone. After three straight one-sided losses, it’s clearly time to end the Peek experiment. Mario Pinto defeats Ryan Spann via second-round knockout (highlights): Heavyweight is a hilarious division. Spann exploded out of the gate, clipping Pinto with an uppercut and left hook that nearly knocked him cold. Pinto bounced off the canvas right into the guillotine choke, which is the “Superman” signature technique. Pinto appeared to be dead in the water, but he managed to fight off the hands … and immediately take over the fight! Outside of that guillotine, Spann’s grappling is pretty mediocre. Pinto forced the takedown and utterly dominated from top position, pummeling Spann and quickly wearing through his gas tank. Spann was spent by the start of the second, so Pinto was easily able to force the finish via ground and pound. Now 13-0 with a four-fight UFC win streak, it’s probably time for a step up in competition. Modestas Bukauskas defeats Oumar Sy via second-round knockout: This Light Heavyweight collision was a tale of two rounds. Sy dominated the first frame, gaining top position and delivering a hail of ground strikes that nearly produced an early finish. Bukauskas survived into the second, however, and the tide began to turn. Sy was still able to land takedowns, but Bukauskas was quicker to return to his feet, which exhausted Sy. After getting up along the fence late in the second, Bukauskas was able to secure an A-Frame in the clinch. From that position, he landed a crushing knee that crumpled Sy, fatigued and without much fight left in him from all the wrestling effort. Matthieu Duclos defeats Luis Felipe Dias via first-round knockout (highlights): Another debuting French athlete, another first-round finish. Like the opener, Duclos and Dias were quick to brawl, wasting little time in committing to powerful swings. Dias quickly got wild, and his early aggression helped him land first and dictate the pace. However, Duclos did well to maintain his composure, soon allowing Dias to run into a nasty counter hook that instantly put him to sleep — the pros and cons of wild charges were on full display in this Middleweight slobberknocker. Delphine Benouiach defeats Sofia Montenegro via second-round rear naked choke (highlights): What a debut for Benouiach! The French newcomer came to the cage ready to brawl. Benouiach and Montenegro spent the first round taking lumps out of each other, but a Benouiach right hand in round two completely changed the course of the fight. Montenegro hit the canvas, and Benouiach savaged her with elbows and punches from top position, staining the canvas with a pool of blood in the very first bout of the evening. After all the damage, locking up the RNC was simple work. For complete UFC Paris results and play-by-play click here.