Salahdine Parnasse has big plans for his fighting career beginning with his octagon debut this Saturday.
The former KSW two-division champion, and one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, headlines UFC Paris in his first promotional bout against Dan Hooker in this weekend’s headliner. “Lion of Atlas” enters the bout on a five-fight win streak.
In his most recent bout, Parnasse made his U.S. debut, and absolutely destroyed Kenneth Cross with a first-round knockout at the Rousey vs. Carano card in May, which led to the UFC signing the highly touted free agent. One of the big questions after Parnasse’s recent victory was, ‘What would happen in a fight with Usman Nurmagomedov?’ Now that Nurmagomedov is a free agent, Parnasse was asked about a potential matchup.
“I think it’s a possibility for sure, we’ll see,” Parnasse told MMA Fighting.
Parnasse had pretty much every major promotion make him an offer during his free agency, but it was a no-brainer for him to sign with the UFC — especially getting an automatic main event against the most experienced opponent of his career, and to headline in front of his home country.
“It was amazing,” Parnasse said. “It was great news for me and I just wanted to keep moving forward, so it was awesome. I was super excited. I mean, Dan Hooker is a guy that has fought everyone. He’s a guy that’s super experienced. He’s fought [Islam] Makhachev, he’s fought everyone in this division, so I was very excited to face him. …
“I think it’s the perfect opponent.”
Hooker enters the bout as a massive underdog, as high as +440 in some books, as a lot of pundits see this as a showcase bout for Parnasse.
Should Parnasse pick up a victory over a game and gritty opponent like Hooker in highlight-reel fashion, it would open a lot of doors to big fights in the star-driven lightweight division. As of now, Parnasse is solely focused on Saturday.
“As of right now, this moment, I don’t have any names in my mind,” Parnasse said. “So we’ll have to see when I win on Saturday.”
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