Another exciting weekend of MMA action has come and gone. For the first time this month, the action extended into Sunday with Fury FC 87 from Houston at Imagen Studios. The main event of Sunday evening’s card took place in the flyweight division between incumbent champion Paris Moran (10-2 MMA, 10-2 Fury FC) and challenger Shameek Harvey (7-2 MMA, 1-1 Fury FC).
For the second time in three nights, only the incumbent titleholder could win the championship on the night. This past Friday, then-incumbent CFFC Flyweight Champion Badmatsyren Dorzhiev was the only fighter eligible to win that promotion’s flyweight title after challenger and eventual winner Israel Galvan missed the 125-lb. maximum by 3 lbs. at the Thursday weigh-in.
With Galvan’s win (second-round submission: rear-naked choke,) the CFFC Flyweight Championship is now vacant.
Harvey Ineligible to Win Title Sunday
Shameek Harvey’s circumstances surrounding his weight miss were beyond his control. Unlike most instances where a fighter misses the prescribed weight ahead of the contest, the situation didn’t allow the challenger a proper chance to be able to make weight.
As was pointed out on-air Sunday evening, Harvey had to fly in from Charlotte to Houston, a flight that was slated to have taken place on Friday. This flight wound up delayed by 15 hours, resulting in Harvey not arriving in the host city for the Fury FC 87 main event until Saturday morning and him only receiving two hours of sleep.
His posted weight was 129.4 lbs., nearly 4 1/2 lbs. over the 125-lb. championship maximum. Despite everything that happened to Shameek Harvey on the way to the show and his weight miss, the title fight was held as scheduled.
This one is heating up#FuryFC87 pic.twitter.com/Fpyr40SEtj
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 10, 2024
Once the fight got underway, it was a wild contest to watch.
A Chaotic Affair Throughout
If you missed the live telecast on Sunday over UFC Fight Pass, you might want to go back and watch it. Even if you managed to watch the Fury FC 87 main event as it happened, you’ll want to go back and watch it again. This fight was that good.
Late in the first round of an advertised five, both men traded big shots, with Harvey landing the crisp counterpunches, Moments later, Moran wobbled Harvey with a crisp three-punch combination. In short, the Fury FC 87 main event early Sunday evening was a scrap
Moran the Smarter Fighter
While there were moments during Sunday’s fight where it looked as though Shameek Harvey had Paris Moran where he wanted him, the champ was the better gladiator of the two on the evening. During the second round of the fight, Moran secured a takedown and took back mount before trying to lock up a submission.
Even though the submission attempt was made with under a minute remaining in the period, Moran seized control of round two thanks to some ground and pound shots. Ultimately, this told the tale for the bout as a whole. Whenever Harvey threw a punch, Moran responded in kind.
In order to slow the pace down as the fight progressed, Moran expertly used the clinch to knock Harvey off of his gameplan, leading to another takedown from the champ later on in round three, yet Harvey secured top mount in the final seconds.
Champ Wraps Up Successful Defense of Title
In what had to be a surprising development, particularly given the events earlier on in the main event, this fight lasted the full five rounds as advertised on the card. Although both men now clearly showed the effects of a 25-minute battle, Moran was still efforting a single-leg takedown in the fight’s last couple of minutes, an attempt only jettisoned once the referee ordered the fight go back to a standing position.
Even with Paris Moran being unable to follow through on his attempted single-leg takedown, it mattered little in the grand scheme of things. The champion was still the aggressor down the stretch, fending off a late Shameek Harvey takedown and taking top mount on another with a reverse.
Not to be outdone, a final Paris Moran takedown was reversed itself by Shameek Harvey before the final horn. It seemed unlikely that the Fury FC 87 main event would get to a judge’s decision at the start of the bout, but the scorecards were tallied up in favor of Paris Moran by way of unanimous decision to culminate a defense of the belt.
Moran is Battle-Tested
Sunday’s headliner was Paris Moran’s 10th win under the Fury FC promotional banner. While Moran said in his post-fight interview that the Fury FC 87 main event wasn’t his best showing in a fight, the statistics don’t lie. If you are a fighter and you win 10 out of your first 12 fights on the regional scene, you have conquered the regional scene, stoppage or no.
Moran has now gone the distance twice in a row in title fights. When you go 10 rounds in MMA title fights and win them both, you’re battle-tested as a fighter. Sometimes, it’s not about whether you get the finish in the fight.
While the flashy finishes are great for a resume, the clinical bouts are just as nice. A clinical win builds the fighter’s resume, along with providing more film for MMA promoters to study when looking for new talent. Even though he didn’t get the win by way of knockout or submission, UFC CEO Dana White should have Paris Moran’s name shortlisted for a call-up to the promotion.
Final Thoughts
It happened a year ago right around this time in fellow UFC Fight Pass promotion A1 Combat with Payton Talbott. After defending the promotion’s bantamweight title in A1 Combat 9, he received an invite to Contender Series that summer, winning a UFC deal that night.
While a Contender Series slot would be nice, Paris Moran is too good to be on that program.
On Saturday night at UFC 299, Fury FC alumnus Robelis Despaigne needed just 18 seconds to knock Josh Parisian out on the undercard. He made a good impression, but will Paris Moran be next to make a UFC debut? Only time will tell. Stay tuned, because Moran’s story is just getting started.
