The UFC heads to Paris this weekend in a present that marks its debut in France, with MMA solely legalised within the nation in 2020.
Consistent with the latest sample of UFC Battle Evening occasions, this one is top-heavy, headlined by Tai Tuivasa taking up Cyril Gane in a heavyweight contender struggle. Within the co-main occasion Robert Whittaker takes on the perpetually offended Marvin Vettori in a middleweight conflict.
Let’s dive in and have a look at the important thing tales to maintain your eye on at UFC Paris.
1. Actually Dana White? That is what you wish to do with Tai Tuivasa?
Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa is the definition of a fan favorite. A tough hitting, shoey-chugging, Spice Woman-loving Aussie who delivers as a lot pleasure exterior the cage as he does in it.
He has completed his final 5 fights by KO/TKO and received Efficiency of the Evening in his final three. Simply as importantly, he has walked out to songs by the aforementioned Spice Ladies, Aqua and Cyndi Lauper. Clearly, Bam Bam simply needs to have enjoyable.
So why on earth would you set him in there with Cyril Gane? Gane is arguably essentially the most technical striker the UFC heavyweight division has ever seen. In his most up-to-date struggle in opposition to champion Francis Ngannou, the champ struggled to put a hand on him on the toes. Solely Ngannou’s potential to shift gears and take the struggle to the bottom allowed him to stroll out of there along with his belt. Now we have by no means seen Tuivasa present any trace of a floor sport and the final time he fought an agile, technical striker in the identical league as Gane was in 2018 in opposition to a declining Junior Dos Santos – a struggle Tuivasa misplaced by TKO.
I get that these two have been most likely destined to satisfy sooner or later however with the heavyweight division in such a state of limbo proper now, it might have made sense to trip the shoey-train for just a few extra stops and see the place it took us. Which ends up in my subsequent query…
(Picture by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
2. What’s actually occurring within the heavyweight division?
Heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou has given each indication that he has no intention of signing one other contract with the UFC except his phrases change drastically. With UFC president Dana White’s steadfast dedication to maintain as a lot of the cash as he presumably can, a big change appears unlikely.
What then are the stakes of the Tuivasa vs Gane struggle? With a headline spot in his house nation in a struggle which is his to lose, it appears to me that the UFC is positioning Gane because the possible inheritor to the throne if Ngannou walks (what’s that saying about greatest laid plans?)
This doesn’t make plenty of sense when the logical struggle for Gane could be quantity two ranked Stipe Miocic – an elite wrestler who could be a nightmare match-up for him. With Jon Jones nonetheless busy within the weight room and a steep drop-off in expertise exterior the highest 4, the heavyweight division appears to be working low on choices.
3. Hazard for Bobby Knuckles
Earlier than the meteoric rise of Alexander Volkanovski, middleweight Robert “Bobby Knuckles” Whittaker carried the banner as the very best Aussie MMA fighter we’d seen. After an up and down stint at welterweight when he first entered the UFC, Whittaker discovered a house at middleweight and has overwhelmed everyone not named Israel Adesanya since.
Now he faces Marvin Vettori in a struggle which has the makings of a lure for the Aussie. Since his middleweight debut in 2014, Whittaker has fought primarily strikers (or wrestlers who select to strike such because the bizarre determine that’s Yoel Romero). In reality, Whittaker has spent simply over three minutes on his again out in over three hours of struggle time. The person who will stand throughout the cage from him averages 2 takedowns per struggle and has spent a complete of 33 minutes in high place.
You would need to assume that Vettori’s staff will likely be planning to take the Aussie down and check out his wrestling chops.
Bobby Knuckles is a deserved favorite over the irate Italian however there may be purpose to assume this could possibly be a troublesome evening on the workplace. Vettori isn’t any joke and if Whittaker can’t defend the take-downs, this one may finish in an upset.
