The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will return to Paris with an intriguing slate of prelims, led by a clash between featherweight newcomers Morgan Charriere and Manolo Zecchini that should offer plenty of crowd engagement at Accor Arena. Beyond that, UFC Fight Night 226 serves as a sorting night for women’s bantamweights, though the the most compelling battle might be further down the lineup, as flyweight prospect Kleydson Rodrigues moves up in weight to ply his trade against Farid Basharat.
Featherweights
Morgan Charriere (18-9-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Manolo Zecchini (11-3, 0-0 UFC)ODDS: Charriere (-340), Zecchini (+270)
Charriere was a natural signing ahead of the UFC’s return to France. One of the country’s most popular fighters, “The Last Pirate” was coming off a loss at this time in 2022 but has managed to string together three straight wins to prove he is ready for his shot. Already nearly a decade into his pro career, Charriere has shown off a well-rounded arsenal of offense with some impressive skill on the mat, and it will be interesting to see if he can iron out the wrinkles in his game during his UFC campaign. It has not come back to bite Charriere during this winning streak, but he is prone to some defensive lapses that force him to climb out of self-created holes. Charriere seems set up for success against a fellow UFC newcomer in Zecchini—an entertaining fighter off the Italian scene. “Angelo Veneziano” is certainly scrappy and has some knockout power, but defensive wrestling is his obvious weakness thus far, which gives Charriere a fairly clear path to victory. The pick is Charriere via second-round stoppage.
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Charriere vs. Zecchini
Lapilus vs. Loughran
Cavalcanti vs. Fairn dos Santos
Edwards vs. Cornolle
Loosa vs. McKee
Basharat vs. Rodrigues