MMA Preview – Zarah Fairn vs Jacqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Fight Night 226
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ZARAH FAIRN VS JACQUELINE CAVALCANTI FACTS
When is UFC Paris? Saturday 2nd September, 2023 - 18:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC Paris? Accor Arena, Paris (France)
Where can I get tickets for UFC Paris? Click here to buy tickets for UFC Fight Night
What channel is UFC Paris on? TNT Sports 2
Where can I stream UFC Paris? TNT Sports subscribers can stream the fight online via the TNT Sports website and Discovery+
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
ZARAH FAIRN VS JACQUELINE CAVALCANTI LOWDOWN
Zarah Fairn (6-5) has had more cancelled fights than appearances in the octagon and now finally gets to fight in Paris. This will only be her second professional fight on her home patch in France, but she will be more concerned with earning a win as she has not had that feeling since 2017. She made her UFC debut in 2019 but got submitted by Megan Anderson. She then went on to get TKO’d by Felcia Spencer (2020) and then outpointed by Josiane Nunes (2023).
Jacqueline Cavalcanti (5-1) steps up to replace Hailey Cowan to make her UFC debut. She has fought for six different promotions and is coming off three wins. She knocked out Yulia Kutsenko (2022) and Nadja Milijancevic (2022) before earning a unanimous decision over Melissa Croden back in April this year.
ZARAH FAIRN VS JACQUELINE CAVALCANTI PREDICTION
It is great to see Fairn finally compete on home soil and there is a lot of pressure on her to perform. She is a brilliant striker and she will be big for the division dropping down to bantamweight.
However, this is a tough match up for her. Cavalcanti is also a big, rangy striker and she has the movement and technique to negate Fairn’s strengths. She also has the tools to exploit Fairn’s glaring weakness which is her grappling.
We are backing the Portuguese native to look impressive on the feet with her wrestling and cardio taking the fight away from Fairn.
Prediction: Cavalcanti via Decision
