Fights To Make After UFC Paris

The dust has settled on UFC Paris, and it was another great European night that featured some of the most brutal finishes we have seen all year inside the octagon.

In the main event of the night, Salahdine Parnasse made an emphatic statement as he brutally finished Dan Hooker with a combo that began with a body kick, sending Hooker into retreat before going down shortly after.

In the co-main event, Axel Sola put fellow countryman Fares Ziam out badly with one of the craziest finishes of the night.

Elsewhere on the card, we got to see possibly the most violent finish of the year aside from Alexa Grasso’s finish of Maycee Barber when Delphine Letho Ducks brutalized Sofia Montenegro before submitting her with a nasty rear naked choke. 

Fights To Make After UFC Paris

These are the next fights to make for each of the biggest stars of UFC Paris.

Salahdine Parnasse vs. Loser of Mauricio Ruffy vs. Arman Tsarukyan

Parnasse passed the Dan Hooker test with flying colors, and now it would make sense to get him in there with someone with lots of fanfare, name value, and actual high-level skill to see what he can really do, which makes either Arman Tsarukyan or Mauricio Ruffy the perfect next opponent.

Beating a trusted veteran who is crafty and tough like Dan Hooker is one thing, but beating someone actually in their fighting prime who is popular among casual fans and hardcore fans is an ideal way to find out exactly how good you are and if you have any sort of staying power or sway with the matchmakers. 

Dan Hooker vs. Renato Moicano

It’s been over 12 years since Dan Hooker joined the UFC, and he’s experienced all the highs and lows a fighter can at this level multiple times over, but it’s starting to look like he is achieving washed status very quickly.

He deserves a fight where he will be met with very minimal threat as far as damage or being finished, but also one that could realistically be winnable and that’s why Moicano would be a great next test. 

They’re right next to each other in the Meta rankings and they have never fought before so it’s a fresh matchup, and it does help Moicano move up the rankings if he wins while also continuing to push Hooker out of the rankings as the UFC probably wants at this point.