UFC reportedly signs decorated MMA champion for short-notice debut fight at UFC Paris

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 11:08 AM ET

(Zuffa LLC)

Cage Warriors Featherweight Champion Harry Hardwick will reportedly step in to make his Octagon debut on short notice at UFC Paris this Saturday.

Set to end a brief one-week break for the UFC after the promotion returned to Shanghai to close out August, UFC Paris will take place at the Accor Arena on September 6 and features a huge middleweight main event between top contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho.

The card took a fairly sizeable hit at the start of fight week when France’s Fares Ziam withdrew from his lightweight matchup with Kauê Fernandes, but it looks like Fernandes will get to remain on the card and welcome Cage Warriors star Hardwick to the UFC.

Harry Hardwick Finally Gets UFC Opportunity

First reported by Al Zullino and later confirmed by Alex Behunin, Hardwick’s UFC debut will see the Englishman move up a division to face Fernandes after defending his Cage Warriors featherweight belt in March.

Hardwick’s brother George held the Cage Warriors lightweight belt until he was upset by Samuel Silva on the same night at Cage Warriors 186. Harry ended up winning his main event bout with Javier Garcia via technical decision following an inadvertent clash of heads, which marked his second title defense after he won the vacant belt last summer and defended it by stopping Keweny Lopes in November.

(Cage Warriors)

A member of the Cage Warriors roster since 2021, “Houdini” is unbeaten in the promotion and is on an eight-fight win streak (he fought to a majority draw with Federico Pasquali in 2022) dating back to a first-round submission against Karl Caput, which was his lone bout with Fight Nation Championship just before he joined Cage Warriors.

"Houdini" Joins Stacked UFC Paris Card

Hardwick’s first UFC outing will see him take on an experienced fighter that already has three Octagon appearances under his belt, and he also joins an impressive group of top European prospects that will be debuting at UFC Paris.

The first fight of the night’s main card will see former two-division Oktagon MMA titleholder Losene Keita make his debut in a huge matchup with former Bellator star Patricio Pitbull, and former ARES FC Lightweight Champion Axel Sola will also move up to welterweight for his own promotional debut against Rhys McKee.

(Oktagon MMA)

The card will also see former KSW titleholder Robert Ruchala and 2022 PFL Heavyweight Tournament Champion Ante Delija make their respective UFC debuts against William Gomis and Marcin Tybura. With the addition of Hardwick vs. Fernandes, UFC Paris currently looks like this:

UFC Paris Fight Card

• Main Event: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho

• Co-Main Event: Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Mauricio Ruffy

• Bolaji Oki vs. Mason Jones

• Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig

• Patricio Pitbull vs. Losene Keita

• William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchala

• Kauê Fernandes vs. Harry Hardwick

• Oumar Sy vs. Brendson Ribeiro

• Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija

• Axel Sola vs. Rhys McKee

• Sam Patterson vs. Trey Waters

• Brad Tavares vs. Robert Bryczek

• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Andreas Gustafsson

• Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes