A hundred seconds, one left hand
Axel Sola did not need a plan B. Fares Ziam was still working out the range at the Accor Arena when an overhand left landed flush and ended the co-main event at 1:40 of the first round.
The opening minute had been cagey by the standards of an all-French matchup. Both men stayed just outside striking distance, throwing feelers, testing timing. Ziam got there first with a swinging elbow that would have troubled most lightweights. Sola absorbed it, stepped in behind the left, and the referee waved it off without hesitation.
That detail matters. The lightweight from Nice took a clean shot from a fighter with genuine power and did not blink, then finished the exchange himself. Chin and knockout power in the same package is rare enough at 155 pounds to reset expectations.
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Two starts in Paris, two first-round finishes
Sola has now fought twice in the French capital and walked out both times inside a round. He opened 2026 with a Fight of the Night performance against Mason Jones, a result that got the division’s attention without quite putting him on the ladder. Saturday did that.
Ziam came in as the more established name domestically, which is exactly why the promotion booked it. The fight was built as a passing of the torch between two French lightweights and lasted long enough for one of them to make the point. For Ziam, the loss cuts short a run he had spent two years assembling.
A card full of finishes
The Paris crowd got value. Losene Keita opened the main card by knocking out Muhammad Naimov at 2:54 of the first, then vaulted the fence to sit in the front row and applaud himself. Kurtis Campbell submitted Trevor Peek with a rear-naked choke in the third for his first UFC win. Michael Venom Page took a unanimous decision over Nursulton Ruziboev on three 29-28 cards in the one bout that went the distance without much happening in it.
Sola will want a ranked opponent next, and the division has plenty of names sitting in the same queue. What he has now is a highlight the matchmakers cannot ignore.
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