UFC Fight Night: Fares Ziam vs Axel Sola Preview & Prediction

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An all-French co-main event at lightweight has Fares Ziam looking to bounce back from his first defeat in four years, taking on the surging prospect Axel Sola in front of a Paris crowd.

Fares Ziam vs Axel Sola facts

What time are Fares Ziam and Axel Sola expected to walk out? 5 September 2026 at 10:15 pm

Where is UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse? Accor Arena, Paris, France

Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 287

What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount

Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass

UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse main card

Dan Hooker vs Salahdine Parnasse (Lightweight)

Fares Ziam vs Axel Sola (Lightweight)

Michael Page vs Nursulton Ruziboev (Middleweight)

Daniil Donchenko vs Punahele Soriano (Welterweight)

Kurtis Campbell vs Trevor Peek (Featherweight)

Losene Keita vs Muhammad Naimov (Featherweight)

UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs Parnasse prelims

Morgan Charriere vs Felipe Lima (Featherweight)

Mario Pinto vs Ryan Spann (Heavyweight)

Oumar Sy vs Modestas Bukauskas (Light Heavyweight)

Nathaniel Wood vs Pavel Andrusca (Featherweight)

Michael Aljarouj vs Fabia Sintes (Flyweight)

Nora Cornolle vs Klaudia Sygula (Women's Bantamweight)

Matthieu Letho Duclos vs Luis Felipe Dias (Middleweight)

Delphine Benouaich vs Sofia Montenegro (Women's Strawweight)

Fares Ziam: "The Smile Killer” needs to restart his climb

Fares Ziam (18-5) had a six-fight win streak snapped in June by Tom Nolan, a unanimous decision that stalled his progress up the division. Before then, the Lyon man had won against Jai Herbert, Claudio Puelles, Matt Frevola with a brutal third-round knee, Mike Davis, and Nazim Sadykhov by second-round TKO at UFC 323. The 29-year-old, who now trains under Trevor Wittman at Kill Cliff FC, is a well-rounded operator who typically leans on his frame to pick opponents up and dump them, works the high crotch against the cage, lands the body kick freely in open-stance matchups and finishes his combinations with low kicks.

Axel Sola: The southpaw karateke dog has answered every question so far but one

Axel Sola (12-1-1) has needed only three fights to become a genuine name at 155. He debuted at welterweight last September, stopping Rhys McKee in the third round, then dropped to lightweight and lost a back and fourth war against Mason Jones in March before silencing the doubters with a first-round submission of Ismael Bonfim in July. Sola fights from a bladed southpaw karate stance with fast kicks and a sharp step-in 1-2, and while he doesn’t carry one-punch power, he has real thud and wears opponents down with accumulated damage. His head kick comes up quickly and is another serious threat.

Fares Ziam vs Axel Sola prediction

The Nolan fight is the reference point here. Ziam’s streak was built largely on walking smaller opponents to the cage and hitting the high crotch, and against a bigger, stronger man he simply couldn’t do it, dropping three rounds in the process. Sola presents a version of the same problem, a physically imposing lightweight who came into the promotion at welterweight, with decent grappling of his own and takedown defence that has held up so far against the level he’s faced. 

The counter-argument is mason Jones, who beat Sola by outdogging him in a firefight. Ziam is a different fighter though. He’s more technical, lower volume, and doesn’t carry the power or output to drag Sola into that kind of scrap. He isn’t going to win this the way Jones did.

Ziam’s credentials are legit, he’s beaten good fighters from the previous era in Herbert, Frevola and Davis, and Davis was arguably his toughest test before Nolan because of the ground game. He typically fights well against southpaws from an orthodox stance, and the body kick should be there again this fight.

However, Sola’s head kick will be there too. He threw it up quickly enough to catch McKee, a man a couple inches taller, and Ziam won’t be exempt from that. If Ziam can’t impose himself physically the way he did on smaller men, this turns into a striking match against a busier opponent. Give me the underdog.

Prediction: Axel Sola to win