Ares FC is back in Paris for its last event of 2025, Ares FC 36. The number one organization in France concludes a great year with a quality event. The viewers will be treated to some top French prospects and two title fights. However, it should be noted that the evening has already been shortened by two exciting fights. The Light-heavyweight rematch between Paulin Begai and Moustapha Diakhaté was canceled due to injury. The featherweight bout between (C) Josh O’Connor and Ghassen Jbalia was also canceled due to an injury. Despite these cancellations, the card promises us a great event, so we’ll take a look at it.
Main Event: Ghassen Jbalia (5-0) vs. Abubakar Sabirov (7-4) – For the Interim Featherweight Belt
With the injury to the featherweight Champion, Josh O’Connor, an interim belt is at stake between Jbalia and Sabirov. Jbalia is a product of Ares, with three fights in the organization. In his last fight, he notably beat top Swedish prospect Sakhi Qambari (6-2) by split-decision, which made him the number one contender. Along with this victory, Jbalia’s list of wins includes IMMAF medalist Stiven Shehu and French amateur champion Dione Abdoulaye, making him one of the best French 145ers.
Jbalia is a complete fighter. A current brown belt in BJJ has a very good ground game with good wrestling. Also, some striking skills, due to his experience in boxing. Jbalia has also shown that he’s a tough fighter and that he is ready to go to war to win his battles.
Against him, Sabirov seems to be far off his level. He is a good fighter from the German scene, but far away from the elite European level that the Ares belt represents. Jbalia should therefore win this fight and continue on his road to challenge the champion O’Connor.
Co-Main Event: Uuganbayar Batsukh (5-0) vs. Temerlan Azizov (4-0) – Flyweight Belt
A fight for the flyweight strap coincides between two elite wrestlers. Azizov is a former high-level wrestler on the national scene. He was notably a French champion at 57kg and was a ranked wrestler for several years. In addition to that, he was the UWW grappling world champion in 2023, showing that he has developed elite skills on the mat. His style is based on his two strengths. He seeks to take the fight to the ground to finish it off. He’s succeeded well in his mission since he has finished three of his opponents. It’s been a year since he last fought, and it remains to be seen whether this absence will be a disadvantage for him during the fight.
The champion Uuganbayar is also an excellent wrestler who dominates fights on the ground. Dominating with his GnP and by suffocating his opponents. After a short amateur career (5-2-2), Uuganbayar clearly exploded onto the pro scene with his move to Ares, which introduced him as one of the best French flyweights. At Ares, he steamrolled the competition until he reached the belt, which he gained without difficulty. At 34 years old, if he’s aiming for the top level, a victory against Azizov is imperative and could open the doors to DWCS.
Jimmy Viennot (1-0) – Lightweight
Jimmy Viennot is a Muay Thai legend in France, with a lot of title wins in the sport. An amazing record of 95 wins in 117 fights. Like Cedric Doumbé or former ONE Champion Alexis Barbosa, Jimmy Viennot started his transition to MMA with Ares. Against a relatively weak opponent, Viennot should probably deliver a spectacular knockout blow in his debut in the organization. Also, an interesting note – Viennot’s only MMA fight was against Daniil Donchenko, the winner of TUF 33, so he already has a big name on his record.
Delphine Benouaich (6-2) – Women’s Strawweight
After a surprisingly tricky matchup with Ingrid Silva (7-4)—an opponent she was expected to outperform—Delphine Benouaich dropped a split decision and now needs to reset at Ares. For the former IMMAF world champion, a win over Payne is crucial if she wants to stay on course for a UFC contract. And frankly, Payne doesn’t appear to be on her level. This matchup should give Benouaich a strong chance to score another Ares knockout and position herself for a potential rematch with Silva for the promotion’s title.
Youssouf Binaté (5-1) vs. Georgi Angelov (4-1) – Bantamweight
Binaté’s career has always been frustrating for French MMA fans. With huge experience in Muay Thai, the Ivorian immediately made a name for himself. That being thanks to his elite and ultra-aggressive striking, which allowed him to string together KOs. Unfortunately, these promising signs were set back by his lack of activity. Only fighting five times in three years, mainly due to numerous pull-outs on his part.
His last fight against Louis Lee Scott perfectly sums up his career. Elite striking that makes him one of the best bantamweights in the world on the feet. That is hindered by a weak ground game that makes him vulnerable and limits his chances of rising to the top.
Binaté is back at Ares to get back on track against the Bulgarian Angelov, a fighter with a good record on paper but who only wins against weak opponents. Binaté should prevail and score another KO to get back on track, and why not aim for the Ares belt?
Paulin Begai (7-4-1) – Light Heavyweight
After a very frustrating draw in his last fight for the belt, Begai is back. While he was scheduled to face Diakhaté for the belt, he is now facing Gritko. He himself is a pretty good fighter from Moldova, and a good test for Begai to get back on track. Begai has shown that he is a complete fighter capable of both wrestling and striking, but he does not excel in any particular area. As I said in the preview for Ares FC 34, Begai only loses against elite European fighters. He is a solid Light Heavyweight and a good fighter to follow on this card.
Ramazan Mustafaev (9-2) vs. Emanuele Sabatino (6-2) – Welterweight
A clash between two of the best Welterweights in Ares. Mustafaev is clearly the favorite in this fight. He is a complete fighter, excellent wrestler, good on the ground, and has made progress in striking since. His only notable flaw, which we saw against Joksovic, is his cardio. He’s coming off a big win in his last fight with Ares, a KO in the first round against the veteran Luciano Contini (13-6). If he wins, Mustafaev can be the next title challenger for Jordan Zebo.
Sabatino is a good fighter with notable experience in Cage Warriors (2-1). He had made a successful debut at Ares by submitting John Caseneuil, and he has shown some great things in wrestling. He is clearly the underdog, but if he wins this fight, this could propel his career and open doors for him at Ares.
This is good fight to follow on the card and will likely decide the next challenger for the belt.
Hamza Saadi (2-0) vs. Walid Masmoudi (2-0) – Lightweight
A clash between two promising European prospects at 155. Saadi had a good amateur career with a 5-2 record and some experience in boxing and kickboxing. He also shows some good skills on the ground. He’s capable of attacking from behind to subdue or overthrow opponents. Saadi showed his skills in his two pro fights in LFL, and he seems to be a good fighter with some potential.
Masmoudi also had a good amateur career with a record of 5-2. Masmoudi is part of the new generation from Atch Academy, Salahdine Parnasse’s gym, which draws attention to him. With a very solid wrestling base, explosive boxing, and a dangerous rear leg, Masmoudi has shown great versatility. At only 24, his room for improvement remains significant – especially on the ground, where he has not yet showcased his abilities despite having good GnP.
This fight between Masmoudi and Saadi promises a lot and is likely to produce fireworks. Especially in the stand-up, where the level is higher. It should help elevate a new prospect in Ares’ already well-stocked lightweight division.
Alou Camara (2-0) vs. Elie Makongo (2-0) – Middleweight
A fight between two good French prospects in the Middleweight division. Camara comes from Atch Academy. He started MMA six years ago and had a good amateur career with a record of 5-2. He has a notable victory against Anthony Nantois, one of the best LHW prospects in France. Camara made his pro debut against the experienced Danil Katchoukaev (3-3) and made a statement with a good performance and the win. In his two pro fights, he showed that he’s a fairly complete fighter. He’s equally capable of striking and wrestling, working well in the GnP. Beware of his lack of mobility, which could cause him problems against a striker like Makongo.
Makongo is a veteran in martial arts, with experience in kickboxing and grappling as well. He only started practicing seriously a few years ago. Like Camara, he had a good amateur career, with a record of 5-2 and a win against the top French prospect Oualy Tandia. He made his pro debut with Ares this year and has shone by scoring two beautiful KOs. It should be noted that this was against fairly weak opponents. Makongo showed that he has quite a complete skillset. Good wrestling with big G&P and solid grappling that’s helped by good boxing and good distance management.
This fight promises to be close and should allow a new talent to rise in the Ares middleweight division, which is sorely lacking in talent. I personally support Makongo because I trained with him in wrestling. He has made good improvements in that area, and I think he is the favorite.
Benoît Prigent (1-0) vs. Ulysse Obame Ndong (1-0) – Featherweight
Prigent is one of the biggest prospects in the division in Europe. He had a successful amateur career with an impressive record of 19-4. A bronze medal at the European IMMAF Championships and another at the World Championships, one French Championship, and the Cage Warriors Academy title. Prigent has a style based on excellent wrestling and very good groundwork that allows him to finish by submission or GnP.
Prigent also has good striking, but he tends to get touched too much. That weakness could prove fatal against Ndong, whose style is based on his good striking. After a short amateur career in which he amassed a record of 4-2, Ndong made a successful professional debut in 2025 and won by TKO. At 33 years old, Ndong will not have a long career, and this fight could be the biggest of his life.
Finally, as an aside, Ndong was a pro football player. He played around a hundred professional matches and played seven times with Gabon during international matches.
Wael Kambouche (1-0) vs Maike Garros (0-1) – Featherweight
Kambouche is another prospect from Atch Academy to follow on this Ares card, and another Parnasse’s sparring partner. He’s also trained with AKA and Daniel Cormier. With a perfect amateur record of 10-0, with nine finishes, Kambouche has made a name for himself in the French MMA scene. He’s notably won the 66kg tournament at 100% Fight. Kambouche is a talented, complete fighter with high-level wrestling, great timing, elite chain wrestling, and a very good submission game. On the feet, he is a pretty good striker, even though he showed during his first pro fight that he can be overconfident and get hit.
This Ares card, therefore, looks promising, with many early-career prospects hungry to make a name for themselves and eager to climb within the organization. However, the absence of a big fight is regrettable—the cancellation of the bout between O’Connor and Jbalia is a major loss for the card. This event serves as a transition into Ares’ 2026 season and should see new talents emerge for the French organization.