France Produces a New Contender in the UFC Lightweight Division

Salahdine Pernasse wasted no time bursting onto the scene in the lightweight division. In his UFC debut, Pernasse finished veteran Dan Hooker in front of his home country of France.  The already loaded 155-pound division, adds another contender. 

It didn’t take Pernasse (24-2-0) long to get the finish in his UFC debut. After a strong body kick, Hooker started grabbing at his midsection. Then after a missed head kick, a viscous left hook dropped Hooker. Hooker could not recover after a Pernasse landed a couple more strikes on the ground. 

Pernasse proved that the hype is indeed real. After all he was slotted in a main event in his home country against the number twelve ranked contender in Dan Hooker. He was also a -500 favorite. 

Pernasse spent most of his professional career fighting for KSW, an MMA promotion in Europe. Pernsse fought in 11 title fights at KSW before leaving in January of this year. 

He fought in May in the Rousey vs Carrano MMA card in Los Angeles, there he knocked out Kenneth Cross in the first round. 

In his post-fight interview inside the octagon, Pernasse said finishes are of the ordinary. 

“I knew I was going to finish the fight. I finish all my fights by KO. I’m ready for the next fight. Top five” said Pernasse. 

Max Holloway is one of those in the top five and that is who Pernasse is targeting next. 

“My dream fight is Max Holloway. He’s the legend. I’m ready for Max Holloway.” 

Max Holoway is coming off a win this past July against Connor McGregor. 

Hooker (24-15-0) is now on a three-fight losing streak. 

Axel Sola (13-1-1) earned a performance of the night bonus in his home of France in the co-min event. A left-hand connection on fellow Frenchman Fares Ziam (18-6) secured Sola’s third win in the UFC. 

Michael ‘Venom” Page (26-3-0) picked up a unanimous decision win against Nusrsulton Ruziboev ((37-10-2). All three judges scored the fight 29-28. Page has now won four fights in a row, living up to the potential UFC fans have for him. 

Page landed a total of 49 strikes, 12 being significant. Page’s funky style and unique fighting stance held Ruziboev to just 21 strikes landing and only 8 being significant. 

Page entered as number eight in the Middleweight rankings. A fourth consecutive victory could see him move up. 

Daniil Donchenko (16-2-0) earned a unanimous decision win against Punahele Soriano (13-5-0). 29-28, 30-7, 30-27 were the official judges’ scorecards. Donchenko landed far more significant strikes, 83 as opposed to 15 for Soriano. 

Donchenko now improves to 3-0 in the UFC. Two of his three wins have been via decision, while his second came via knockout. 

Kurtis Campbell (9-1-0) earned a $25,000 bonus after a rear-naked choke finish over Trevor Peek (9-4-0). Campbell set the UFC featherweight record for number of takedowns prior to the submission win. The finish took place in the third round. 

The main card kicked off with fireworks from Losene Keita (17-2-0). Keita finished Muhammad Naimov (13-5-0) in the first round. The finish would ern Keita Performance of the Night bonus of $100,000. 

Some notes from the prelims. 

In what could be called the bloodiest women’s fight ever in the UFC, Delphine Benouaich (8-2-0) finished Sofia Montenegro (6-3-0) with a rear naked choke in what will be a visual of all UFC hype videos for years to come. Benouaich laded the second-most significant strikes in a single round in the Flyweight division, including a slicing elbow that opened a deep gash on Montenegro.

Then after the fight got to the ground the rear-naked was put in and the visual of Montenegro’s blood squirting out of her head as Benouaich squeezed on the rear naked was something to see. 

Benouaich, a native of France was making her UFC debut. The event started and ended the same way, with two French fighters making their impressions amongst UFC fans. 

The event was held at Accor Arena in Paris, France. The event was sold out with 15,687 fans and a gate of $4,365,335. 

Next week the UFC will have its annual “Noche UFC” headlined by Jean Silva (17-3-0) going against Jose Delgado (12-2-0). Silva is one of the up-and-coming superstars of the UFC with highlight knockouts in his UFC resume.

Also on the card is former UFC Flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (23-10-2) as he faces Joseph Morales (15-2-0). 

Noche UFC will be at Gila River Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. 

The week after the UFC makes its return to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on September 19 for UFC 331. The show marks the first at Crypto.com Arena (then known as Staples Center) since 2018. 

The show will be headlined by the Flyweight Championship fight between champion Joshua Van (17-2-0) defending against former champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-6-0). 

Van defeated Pantoja back in December of 2025 to win the Flyweight Championship after a first-round finish.