Moicano Spoils Main Event for French Fans With TKO Win over Benoît Saint Denis

Renato Moicano is fortunate that Benoît Saint Denis admitted to the ringside doctor that he couldn’t see out of one eye. Despite dominating the first round of their main event Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris, Moicano noticeably slowed down in the second round. Despite having a visible shiner and issues with his vision, Saint Denis landed more punches.

Moicano revealed after the fight the extent of his shoulder damage according to the MMAfighting latest news. But Moicano was fortunate to have put such a beatdown on Saint Denis in the first round that he didn’t have to worry about the injury coming back to haunt him. Moicano used an early takedown to land a number of hard elbows and powerful ground-and-pound shots.

Saint Denis was bleeding heavily from his face and had visible bruising around both eyes by the end of the first round. While Saint Denis came out for the second round, it was clear he was compromised. He was able to prevent being taken down but could only see out of one eye.

After the fight, Moicano launched off on a tangent about the French government. There were a lot of interesting exchanges throughout the night between the fighters and French crowd, which was energetic from the start.

“First of all, France, I came here and wanted to talk a lot of (expletive) about France,” Moicano said. “But I went to the Louvre …. I went to all the beautiful places in France, and the French people don’t suck. The French government is (expletive) horrendous.”

Imavov Rallies for Victory

Nassourdine Imavov spent a little over 4 minutes with Brendan Allen on top of him during the first round of their middleweight fight. However, Imavov was able to pull himself together. In the second and third rounds, Imavov used his long range to strike accurately and control the fight.

While Allen did land some powerful punches in the third round, he wasn’t built to keep up with Imavov’s length and accuracy. Imavov was able to get what he sought from this fight, according to the best MMA news site. Imavov, who has won three straight fights, wants a rematch with Sean Strickland.

Strickland, the former middleweight title holder, handed Imavov his last defeat in January 2013. It may take some time for this fight to happen, as Strickland is still hoping for another shot at the belt.

Battle Defiant in Victory

There was a lot of thought that Bryan Battle could be in for a rough time when he matched up with French fighter Kevin Jousset. There was a lot of sentiment among bettors that this fight could go the distance and maybe Jousset could win a decision.

But that’s not how it played out. Battle hammered Jousset throughout their meeting. In the second round, Battle turned up the heat and added more power to every punch he threw. Eventually, Jousset could no longer take the heat.Battle picked up a second-round knockout. Following the fight, Battle extended both of his middle fingers toward the French crowd. When Battle received a chorus of boos in response, Battle said to keep booing him because he loves it.

Charrière Continues Run of Strong Performances

Morgan Charrière was less than happy with his last performance in the UFC. Charrière was involved in a wild striking affair with Jose Mariscal in April. After losing in a split decision, Charrière was determined to keep the judges out of his fight with Gabriel Miranda.

During the second round, Charrière delivered. Charrière connected with a clean left hook that put Miranda out before he hit the ground. Charrière didn’t need any additional strikes to win the fight.

Better Late Than Never

Fares Ziam hunted for a submission win over Matt Frevola several times. But Frevola has never had anyone force him to tap out during a fight. One thing that Frevola has struggled with is being on the end of highlight-reel knockouts.Terrance McKinney, Saint Denis, and now Ziam have all picked up finishes that will be shown for years to come. Ziam utilized a knee along the cage to earn his knockout during the third round, according to MMA breaking news. Ziam set up Frevola perfectly.

He framed Frevola’s face before quickly bringing his knee up to earn an impressive stoppage.

Perez Goes Viral Again

Marketing is important for combat sports athletes. If you want to make money on sponsorships or other opportunities outside of the octagon, there has to be something that makes you stand out from the crowd. For Ailin Perez, that seems to be twerking.

It was a difficult week for Perez, who missed weight for her bantamweight fight by a half pound. She didn’t look any worse for wear after she appeared to be shaking on the scale when she went for weigh-ins. Perez was able to score a takedown early in the first round.

Once Perez got on top, she secured an arm-triangle choke. It was her first win by finish since 2022. As Darya Zheleznyakova stood up following the submission, Perez went out of her way to twerk in her face.

Uh, He’s Asleep

Chris Duncan earned a rare type of technical submission. He was applying a guillotine to Bolaji Oki, who battled the submission for a long time. When Oki’s head popped out, he was in top position.

However, Oki was out cold. Duncan threw one punch from the bottom before pointing out to the referee that Oki had, in fact, passed out. Duncan earned the first-round submission win.

Here’s a look at the rest of the fights on the card not mentioned above:

Featherweight, Williams Gomis win by split decision over Joanderson Brito, 29-28 Gomis (x2), Brito 29-28

Light heavyweight, Ion Cutelaba win by split decision over Ivan Erslan, Cutelaba 29-28 (x2), Erslan 29-28

Light heavyweight, Oumar Sy win by decision over Jung Da-Woon, 30-27 (x3)

Lightweight, L’udovit Klein win by decision over Roosevelt Roberts, 30-27, 29-28 (x2)

Bantamweight, Taylor Lapilus win by decision over Vince Morales, 30-27 (x3)

Flyweight, Daniel Barez win by decision over Victor Altamirano, 29-28 (x3)

Women’s bantamweight, Jacqueline Cavalcanti win by split decision over Nora Cornolle, 29-28 Cavalcanti (x2) 29-28 Cornolle

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.