Fares Ziam

ANALYSIS
Ziam backed out of his early-September fight at UFC Paris for unknown reasons, but he's back on the schedule for a Dec. 6 bout. He'll square off against Sadykhov, who's had four straight stoppage wins.

ANALYSIS
With Ziam out for UFC Paris, the promotion is trying to find his replacement who can fight Fernandes on short notice. It is unclear what the former is dealing with and when he can return to action.

ANALYSIS
Although it's a bit of a letdown for Ziam, who was hoping for a top-15 ranked UFC lightweight opponent, he'll aim to extend his five-fight win streak against a rising contender coming off back-to-back victories.

ANALYSIS
Of course, a battle between two noted strikers quickly turned into a back-and-forth grappling match. That said, Ziam proved to be clearly the more effective man in that area, and it won him the fight. He landed 4-of-7 takedown attempts in addition to stuffing 7-of-8 tries from Davis. He constantly won at the point of attack, aided by his tiring opponent. Clearly up two rounds, Ziam was never in jeopardy in the final frame because Davis was too bloody and tired to make a significant push. Still just 27 years of age, Ziam has come out of seemingly nowhere to rack up five straight wins dating back to September 2022. He deserves another bump up in competition his next time out.

ANALYSIS
A victory over Matt Frevola in September extended Ziam's winning streak to four bouts. Davis has also built up positive momentum, winning four consecutive fights dating back to 2019, but Ziam will have a 2.5-inch reach advantage working in his favor in February.