Fares Ziam is aware of everyone’s reaction to him drawing unranked Kaue Fernandes at UFC Paris, but he has an explanation.
Ziam (17-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) meets Fernandes (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a lightweight bout on Sept. 6 from Accor Arena. When his fight was announced, the comments section was showered with criticism toward the UFC’s matchmaking and why Ziam hasn’t been matched up with a ranked opponent.
The 27-year-old previously told MMA Junkie that he’d rather have one more fight before taking on ranked opposition, but many thought he deserved a bigger name than Fernandes. Ziam addressed those comments.
“Not very (surprised) because we talked with my manager, Ali Abdelaziz, we said maybe it’s not the timing to fight a top-15 ranked guy,” Ziam told MMA Junkie. “I need to work on my wrestling, work on my jiu-jitsu, everything. I need to get better, I need to evolve. It’s OK, five-fight win streak is good, but I need more.”
While Ziam has impressed in his winning streak, including a Knockout of the Year contender over Matt Frevola, he wants to tighten up certain aspects of his ground game first.
“Because I fought unranked guys and they took my back, they took the mount, they took top position,” Ziam said. “And if a ranked guy takes (my back), it’s not going to be like my last fight. I need to evolve in this, and I need to prove that I’m ready for the top 15.
“Mike Davis, Matt Frevola, Claudio Puelles, those three guys took my back, had the mount position, too much top position. If you do that with a guy like Renato Moicano, Beneil Dariush, or someone like that, it’s not good.”
Fernandes is riding some momentum after back-to-back wins over Mohammad Yahya and Guram Kutateladze.
“He’s a dangerous fighter, he has a good calf kick, he’s dangerous – but honestly, I think I’m better everywhere,” Ziam said of Fernandes. “So for me, it’s a good fight, but he’s still dangerous. I think with Kaue, I can do wrestling, striking, grappling. I can do anything, but just be careful for his calf kicks and his counters because he’s a counter guy. So yeah, I can wrestle this fight.”
