UFC Paris: How to watch Gane-Spivac, start time, lineup, odds, more

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

28 August 2023

UFC Paris: How to watch Gane-Spivac, start time, lineup, odds, more

The UFC is back in France on Saturday for UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris.

Here’s how to watch UFC Fight Night 226 with a French heavyweight former interim champion at the top of the lineup.

UFC Fight Night 226 has a main card that begins at 3 p.m. ET and streams on ESPN+. The prelims stream on ESPN+, as well, beginning at noon ET. There is a 6-hour time difference from Paris to Eastern Standard Time.

When the UFC made its debut in France a year ago, Ciryl Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was at the top of the lineup and delivered a Fight of the Night knockout of Tai Tuivasa to thrill his home fans. It got him back on track after a heavyweight title loss to then-champion Francis Ngannou. This year, he’ll be hoping for a similar outcome. His win over Tuivasa got him a vacant heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones in March, but Jones put him away with a submission in a little more than two minutes. To rebound this time, Gane will have to do it against Serghei Spivac, who comes in with three straight wins, all by stoppage.

Serghei Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) had a three-fight winning streak snapped by Tom Aspinall two years ago. Then he bounced back in a big way. Since then, he’s had back-to-back knockouts of Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai, then a first-round submission of former title challenger Derrick Lewis in February. A win over Ciryl Gane as a slight underdog no doubt would put him in title contention.

There’s an intriguing women’s co-feature in Paris when former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) moves up to flyweight to take on French standout Manon Fiorot (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who is perfect so far in the UFC. Namajunas won the strawweight title for a second time in 2001 when she knocked out current champ Zhang Weili. She beat her in a rematch, as well, but then lost a split decision to Carla Esparza 19 months ago. Instead of staying at 115, Namajunas, who is 31, will try 125 for the first time.

The stakes are high for Fiorot, as well, given the 33-year-old southpaw from France will be fighting in her home country for the first time. With 10 straight wins after a Cage Warriors loss to Bellator standout Leah McCourt in her pro debut, Fiorot truly is rolling. A win over Namajunas stacked on top of decisions over Katyln Chookagian, Jennifer Maia and Mayra Bueno Silva almost certainly would have Fiorot next in the queue for a flyweight title shot.

Jacqueline Cavalcanti (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is set for her first UFC when she takes on Zarah Fairn (6-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC), who still is looking for her first UFC win. The 25-year-old Cavalcanti, born in Brazil but based in Portugal, won LFA’s vacant women’s bantamweight title in April in her promotional debut. Now she gets her shot in the UFC.

After three straight wins, former Cage Warriors featherweight champ Morgan Charriere (18-9-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), from France, is set for his first UFC fight against another debutant, Manolo Zecchini (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Charriere has been trying to climb back after consecutive losses – one for his featherweight title, and the next in a vacant title fight. Zecchini returned to the cage in early 2022 after more than two years away. He dropped his comeback fight, but picked up a pair of knockouts under the Venator FC banner.

Four months after he won Cage Warriors’ vacant bantamweight title, Caolan Loughran (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will bring his unbeaten record to the UFC. The Dubliner does his training just across the Irish Sea in Liverpool with the likes of Darren Till and Tom Aspinall. Seven of his eight pro wins have been by stoppage. Yanis Ghemmouri (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) gets to represent his home country in Paris. He has nine straight wins, including three straight under the Brave CF banner.

Nora Cornolle (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has been on a tear ever since she lost her pro debut to Jacqueline Cavalcanti, who coincidentally will make her UFC debut on this same card. Cornolle will take on Joselyne Edwards (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on the prelims. She’s got a six-fight winning streak after the Cavalcanti loss with six stoppages.

Bogdan Guskov (14-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a 30-year-old light heavyweight from Uzbekistan, gets a tough test for his first UFC assignment: Former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir (18-7 MMA, 6-6 UFC). Guvkov’s current four-fight winning streak features four first-round knockouts. All 14 of his pro wins have been by stoppage with 12 KOs and a pair of submissions.