At UFC Paris Fares Ziam defeated Poland’s Michał Figlak after three rounds of fighting. Thanks to this victory the French – Algerian made his way back to the winning column.
Round 1
The Pole attacked from the get-go. He pushed his opponent towards the fence. Figlak exerted pressure and threw successive blows. Ziam, however, worked successfully defensively, and with time more and more of his blows reached the target. After less than two minutes of active stand-up rallies, the action switched to the clinch. After that Ziam showed off a spectacular throw, after which he found himself in the top position. The Polish fighter managed to sweep his opponent and then he returned to his feet. Figlak continued the offensive in a stand-up, pressed forward, and mixed attacks on the head and body. After one of the exchanges, the fighters went to close-quarter combat under the net. There the Pole took a better position. Ziam switched him over, and now he was working on a clinch takedown. A few dozen seconds before the end of the first outing, both men landed on the mat. This time Ziam was on the top. Figlak tried to surprise the French with an armbar, but he did not manage to finish it.
Round 2
The first cut appeared under Figlak’s right eye during the opening seconds. Ziam aimed for a takedown. The Polish fighter tried to stand his ground but ended up on his back under his opponent. The French-Moroccan switched to the half-guard, from where he delivered a series of punches. Figlak worked on the transfusion, which only resulted in a return to closed guard. Eventually, the fighters returned to stand-up. The Pole continued to exert pressure, unsuccessfully trying to overthrow. Ziam hit with a revolving elbow, after which the Polish fighter staggered on his feet. Ziam sensed a chance for a knockout and hit Figlak with a series of successive strikes. Ziam used the last minutes of the round to throw some blows from the top position.
Round 3
Ziam controlled the third outing from the beginning. He regularly smashed the Pole’s front leg with low kicks. Figlak was close to taking him to the ground, but Ziam quickly escaped to his feet. Michał was looking more and more often to shorten the distance and move the action to the ground. Fatigue did not allow him to do too much. The fight moved to the ground with Ziam on top. The Frenchman finally made a mistake, which led to Figlak taking his back and switching to mount. The Pole managed to inflict a series of blows, but Fares managed to improve and sweep Michał. Ziam beat Figlak on the ground floor until the final bell. After three rounds of the fight, the hand of Fares Ziam went up. The Judges scored the fight 30 – 27, 30 – 27, and 29 – 28 in his favor.
