Farès Ziam (born March 21, 1997) is a French

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

Born into a Franco-Algerian family in 1997, he was a fan of

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It was a family affair, with everyone involved in combat sports. His father, Taïeb, who was a former pro

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

that hung up his gloves in the 2000s, has of course had something to do with it. His stepfather did Brazilian jiu-jitsu while his two brothers did Muay Thai. At 12, Ziam began practising combat sports with full contact. At 13, he began doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and MMA once or twice a week. Starting at 14, he did

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, BJJ and kickboxing for 3 years, he then joined the Ezbiri team in

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after ...

to do MMA professionally.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Starting his professional MMA career in 2014, Ziam compiled a 10–2 record fighting mostly in the regional European scene, winning the HIT and LFC lightweight championships in the process.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ziam, as a replacement for

Magomed Mustafaev Magomed Mustafaev (born August 2, 1988 in Dagestan) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who competed in the Lightweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2011, he has also competed for M-1 Global. Background Magomed Mustafaev ...

, made his promotional debut against Don Madge on September 7, 2019, at

UFC 242 ''UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier '' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on September 7, 2019 at The Arena, Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event mark ...

in Abu Dhabi,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. Ziam lost the fight by unanimous decision. Ziam faced

Jamie Mullarkey Jamie Mullarkey (born 17 August 1994) is an Australian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Mullarkey grew up in Central Coast area, attending Erina High School. He beg ...

at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie on October 18, 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Ziam faced Luigi Vendramini on June 12, 2021, at

UFC 263 ''UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 12, 2021, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, United States. Background The event was the second ...

. He won the fight via majority decision. Ziam was scheduled to face

Terrance McKinney Terrance Kitarius McKinney (born September 15, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2017, McKinney also compet ...

on November 20, 2021, at

UFC Fight Night 198 ''UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN+ 56'', ''UFC Vegas 43'' and ''UFC Fight Night 198'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 20, 2021 at the UFC ...

. However, one of McKinney's cornermen got

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

the day of the bout and it was scrapped. The pairing was rescheduled and eventually took place at

UFC Fight Night 202 ''UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 202'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 60'' and ''UFC Vegas 49'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 26, 2022 at the U ...

on February 26, 2022. Ziam lost the bout via first round rear-naked choke. Ziam faced Michal Figlak on September 3, 2022 at

UFC Fight Night 209 ''UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 209'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 67'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 3, 2022, at Accor Arena in Paris, Fra ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

* HIT Fighting Championship ** HIT Lightweight Championship (one time) * Lyon Fighting Championship ** LFC Lightweight Championship (one time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Michal Figlak , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Makhachev vs. Green , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Luigi Vendramini , Decision (majority) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Glendale, Arizona, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Don Madge , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Yassine Belhadj , Submission (guillotine choke) , European Beatdown 5 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:05 , La Louvière, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Julio Matos , Decision (unanimous) , European Beatdown 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Mons, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 ,

Abner Lloveras Abner Lloveras Hernández (born September 4, 1982, in Barcelona) is a Spanish professional mixed martial artist in the lightweight division. Abner received a gold medal in the Spanish Olympic boxing tournament in 2010. He also competed on '' The ...

, KO (punch) , HIT Fighting Championship 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:24 , Zurich, Switzerland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Alexey Valivakhin , TKO (punches and elbows) , WWFC 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:01 ,

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, Ukraine , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Artem Tanshyn , TKO (elbows) , Road To WWFC 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:18 ,

, Ukraine , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 , Haotian Wu , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Kunlun Fight MMA 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:41 ,

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Damien Lapilus , KO (head kick) , Lyon Fighting Championship 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, France , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Viskhan Magomadov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ACB 46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:58 ,

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Laïd Zerhouni , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Gladiator Fighting Arena 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:32 , Nîmes, France , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Jean Dutriaux , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , 100% Fight 27 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Dominic Yeo , TKO (punches) , WSFC 3: The Third Strike , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:58 ,

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlb ...

, Austria , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Guerra Mathias , Submission (armbar) , Lyon Fighting Championship 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:12 ,

, France , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziam, Fares 1997 births Living people French male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters French sportspeople of Algerian descent French practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Vénissieux Sportspeople from Lyon Metropolis