Elias Boudegzdame gets a crack at the bantamweight championship when he takes on Demarte Pena at Ares FC 12. The event will take place on February 17 at Dôme de Paris in Paris, France. The fight card will air on the UFC Fight Pass streaming platform.
The bantamweight gold was vacated by Taylor Lapilus, who signed a new contract with UFC. This opened an opportunity window for both Boudegzdame and Pena.
Elias Boudegzdame vs. Demarte Pena
The Algerian fighter sports an 18 – 7 MMA record. Elias Boudegzdame made his way from the Middle East MMA circuit to top promotions in the region. A Brave CF and UAE Warriors alumni have won four out of his last five bouts. He won most of his recent fights either with submission or decision. On the other hand, he suffered mainly decision losses and was stopped once.
This will be a second chance for Pena to become the bantamweight champion under the Ares FC banner. He fought Lapilus at Ares FC 5. The former champion stopped the Angolan in the very first round. It is the only loss in Pena’s record, as he faced Pena riding an eleven-fight winning streak. After this loss, he bounced back by defeating Moustapha Aida by the judge’s decision.
Fight preview
As mentioned earlier, ‘Smile’ has a tendency to win his fights by submission. He even secured a few in the very first round. However, there’s no pattern as he forced some opponents to tap out within the opening five minutes while managing the same in later outings.
Pena was awarded most of his victories by the judges. He has one TKO stoppage and one submission win to his name.
Taking this all into consideration is safe to say that fans will witness a full fifteen minutes of action with judges rendering the winner.
Mossab El Marzkioui vs. Alexandre Carole
In another interesting matchup, El Marzkioui will take on Carole.
The Moroccan fighter has a 4 – 1 – 1 record. He stacked up a four-fight winning streak, which was put to an end by Asilder Badouiev at Ares FC 6. It was quite ironic as El Marzkioui tapped out three different opponents before the same happened to him.
Carole sports a 2 – 1 record. He secured one submission win and was awarded the other one by the judges. Interestingly enough, his only loss is also by submission.
