UFC Paris Kicks Off Labor Day Weekend with Awesome Main Card!

UFC Paris fight week rolls on. While this Saturday serves as week one of the NCAA football season, not everyone's eyes will be focused on a college campus for a ballgame or tailgate party. Paris gets its annual visit from the UFC this Labor Day weekend.

Live coverage of UFC Paris begins at 12 noon ET/ 9 am PT on Saturday with the prelims. Stateside, UFC Paris can be seen gavel-to-gavel by way of Paramount Plus.

Main card action will cap the event at 3 pm ET/ 12 noon PT on the streaming service. All told, the event will feature 14 MMA fights, with 10 competitors based out of France fighting on the show. 

UFC Paris Main Event: No. 10 Contender Dan Hooker vs. Salahdine Parnasse: Hooker Seeking to Avoid Three-Fight Losing Streak

At the top of the bill on UFC Paris Saturday night, the lightweights go to battle for a fight between No. 10 contender Dan Hooker (24-14 MMA, 14-10 UFC) and Salahdine Parnasse (23-2 MMA, UFC promotional debut.) This main event is a five-round fight at five minutes per round to close the activities.

Dan Hooker enters UFC Paris with a record of 3-2 in his last five fights. He's been a streaky fighter of late, dropping two in a row after winning three bouts in succession.

Back on Feb. 1 in UFC 325, he was on the losing end of a second-round knockout from Benoit Saint-Denis (17-4, 1 NC MMA, 9-4 UFC) during the co-main event of the evening. Hooker enters a critical 25 minutes or less of action in the UFC Paris main event on Saturday. How will he fare here?

Former KSW Champ Makes UFC Debut in Paris

Across the way, Salahdine Parnasse, a former KSW Lightweight Champion, comes into the weekend on the strength of a 5-0 record in his last five fights. This past May, he trekked to Inglewood, CA and The Forum for MVP MMA 1.

That spring Saturday night, Parnasse finished Kenny Cross (17-5 MMA, 0-1 MVP) with body punches inside the opening round of action. At 28 years of age, Parnasse has proven himself worthy on some of MMA's biggest stages. A championship in KSW and four defenses of the title are indicative of that.

The stakes couldn't be higher for Parnasse heading into his UFC debut. It's not every day that a fighter competes in the promotion for the first time against a top-10 adversary.

UFC Paris Co-Main Event: Fares Ziam vs. Axel Sola: Ziam Looks to Rebound

Immediately beforehand, the co-main attraction of UFC Paris happens in the lightweight division. It's a battle for French supremacy when Fares Ziam (18-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) fights Axel Sola (12-1-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round. 

Ziam will be making the walk with a record of 4-1 in his last five fights. Back on June 6, he saw his six-fight winning streak snapped by way of unanimous decision against Tom Nolan (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the latter's fifth straight win.

As has been mentioned previously, a fighter coming off of a winning streak can be just as dangerous as one currently on a hot streak. Can Ziam get back to victory lane? Tune in and find out.

Sola on Quick Turnaround Ahead of UFC Paris

Meanwhile, Axel Sola has gone 4-1 in his own right over the last five outings. On July 25, he scored a first-round submission with a D'arce choke against Ismael Bonfim (20-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) during UFC Abu Dhabi.. 

By the time Saturday night rolls around, just over six weeks, 43 days, will have passed between fights. How much in the way of a training camp has Axel Sola had ahead of Saturday's fight?

UFC Paris: No. 15 Contender Michael "Venom" Page vs. Nursulton Ruziboev: "MVP" Hunting for Fourth Straight Win in Last Bout on Deal

Also on the main card of UFC Paris, fans will be treated to a middleweight contest matching Michael "Venom" Page (25-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) against Nursulton Ruziboev (37-9-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC.) Page enters this, the final fight on his current contract having posted a mark of 4-1 in his past five bouts.

He's won three fights in a row. On March 21 during UFC London, he scored a unanimous decision over Sam Patterson (15-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) after three rounds of action. After Saturday's contest, it'll be contract renewal time for Page and his camp.

Recently, he mentioned that he'd like to remain a member of the UFC's active roster following the Paris card.

"I just feel like I've got unfinished business, which is why I want to stay," Page said, "but it's not all up to me."

A fourth consecutive win may work in "MVP's" favor when the topic of a new contract comes about after this weekend, Only time will tell, however, if this is to be the case.

Nursulton Ruziboev Also on Three-Fight Winning Streak

In the other corner, Nursulton Ruziboev also sports a 4-1 record in his last five appearances. Like Page, Ruziboev has won three bouts consecutively. 

On June 27, he bested Andrey Pulyaev (10-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a first-round submission by way of rear-naked choke during UFC Baku.  Someone's winning streak has to end here.

One question remains: Who will it be?

Rest of the Card

UFC Paris' main card is rounded out by these fights:

• A welterweight contest between Daniil Donchenko (14-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Punahele Soriano (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC,)
• a featherweight encounter matching Kurtis Campbell (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with Trevor Peek (9-3, 1 NC MMA, 2-3 UFC,)
• and a featherweight bout pairing Losene Keita (16-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) against Muhammad Naimov (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC.)