Fares Ziam won’t get the top 15-ranked UFC lightweight he was looking for.
Instead, Ziam (17-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) draws rising contender Kaue Fernandes (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on Sept. 6 at Accor Arena in Paris, promotion officials announced Thursday.
Winner of seven of his past eight fights, Ziam extended his winning streak to five when he defeated Mike Davis by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 250 in February. Prior to that, he scored a Knockout of the Year contender over Matt Frevola when he flattened him with a knee to earn his first bonus at UFC Fight Night 243.
After dropping his UFC debut to Marc Diakiese, Fernandes stopped Mohammad Yahya by first-round TKO at UFC on ABC 7, followed by a unanimous decision win over Guram Kutateladze at UFC Fight Night 255 in March.
With the addition, the current UFC Paris lineup includes:
- Caio Borralho vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Ante Delija vs. Marcin Tybura
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Andreas Gustafsson
- Mason Jones vs. Bolaji Oki
- Yuneisy Duben vs. Kennedy Freeman
- Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
- Brendson Ribeiro vs. Oumar Sy
- William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchala
- Kaue Fernandes vs. Fares Ziam
