With it being a quiet week for MMA in general, ARES FC is taking advantage and holding a solid card with some good prospects. An interim featherweight title fight headlines ARES FC 39, with Ghassen Jbalia making the first defense of his title. Former ONE Muay Thai title challenger Jimmy Vienot returns on the card, looking to build off the brutal KO win he picked up in December. ARES is back on Fight Pass and can now be easily accessed by more fans, a move that should help viewership and give access to a broad audience of MMA fans.
Ghassen Jbalia (6-0) – Ares FC Interim Featherweight Champion
The Main Event and defending champion of the card is ARES FC Interim Featherweight Champion Ghassen Jbalia. Jbalia is a slow and patient fighter, using a whole lot of low kicks at range to set up over-the-top punches. He keeps his stance low and ready to defend takedowns, but also offensively wrestles to counter aggression. Jbalia has some really good scrambles and anti-wrestling, often working out of bad positions. Jbalia also excels at chain wrestling and not being discouraged when takedowns are defended, heating up more as the fight goes on. He uses many of the same entries on his takedown attempts, which have led to him being caught in guillotines. On the mat, Jbalia lacks dominant control but does prefer to transition to mount, where he’s even more comfortable on the back. His ground-and-pound isn’t the most powerful, but he throws a solid volume to keep opponents defending.
While being fairly well-rounded, Jbalia struggles more on the feet. He has some good knees to the body and clean dirty boxing in the clinch, but has defensive issues. Jbalia is pressured easily and hit clean often, sometimes leading to weird reactions. He ducks heavy to his right side and throws a lot of blind kicks at range, which he’s been punished for in the past. These issues have been masked by a strong chin, but have been prevalent throughout recent fights. Overall, Jbalia is more of a generalist, being decent in all areas but excelling in none. The French fighter will be making his first defense of the title he won in December, facing Bellator veteran Fabacary Diatta in the headliner.
Fabacary Diatta (9-1) – Featherweight
Someone who came out of nowhere after a 3-year layoff, Fabacary Diatta is a Bellator veteran with a 3-1 record in the promotion. Diatta is a slick and skilled boxer, with a great jab and some fast hands that he loves to throw in combination. He typically ends combos with his jab, a rare style that’s tough for opponents to predict. His left hand is sharp and accurate, setting up his more powerful right hand. He uses a lot of lateral movement and footwork to keep opponents on their toes and strikes while moving. Diatta also uses effective body kicks from both sides, but doesn’t stay at kicking range for long.
In the grappling, Diatta is active with ground-and-pound, taking every chance he gets to land damage. His control and anti-grappling are both solid, but he has been caught in some bad positions on bottom. When he gets caught on his back, he stays calm and does a good job slowly working to his feet. Diatta’s submission defense has been impressive, not getting flustered easily. Diatta’s main flaws lie in exchanges in the pocket, as he leaves himself too open when punching and can be clipped. Despite having power, he doesn’t often finish fights, so he still needs to develop his killer instinct.
The biggest issue coming into this fight for Diatta is the three-year layoff. Depending on how he’s affected by ring rust, he could come out looking like a completely different fighter. At just 29 years old, he has a lot of time left in this sport if he chooses to, but coming back right into a title fight is surely an interesting decision. We’ll see how he looks against Interim Champion Ghassen Jbalia, and in a high-pressure Main Event slot.
Jimmy Vienot (2-0) – Lightweight
A Muay Thai specialist, having fought for the title in ONE Championship and kickboxing in Glory, Jimmy Vienot returns to ARES with a wealth of combat sports experience. His MMA debut came in 2021, when he secured a Unanimous Decision win over now UFC fighter Daniil Donchenko. Having fought for the promotion in December and scoring a vicious knockout win in his MMA return, Vienot definitely brings some attention to this fight.
Vienot is a big lightweight at 6’1 that uses his size to his advantage out of the southpaw stance. His 1-2 leads the show, while his lead uppercut slips through the guard and adds diversity to his punches. His Muay Thai is incredible, as expected. Nasty leg kicks, sick knees, and devastating elbows are a big part of his game. He works the body well with kicks, and absolutely destroys it with his knees. Rear head kicks also fly up without warning and need to be accounted for when striking with him. He fluently switches between his strikes, swapping from kicks to punches, and punches to knees and elbows smoothly. Vienot doesn’t get too flashy with his strikes for the most part, relying on his death-touch type of power that was seen in his last fight.
While Vienot’s grappling is obviously not a strong suit, it could be much worse. He can be chain-wrestled, but is very strong when working back to his feet and is tough to hold down. If he finds his way on top, his ground striking is brutal and can finish fights quickly. Vienot’s inactivity is a worry, but he is coming into this fight not long after his last. Vienot faces 3-0 Mario Gagliardi, who makes his ARES debut, to kick off the Main Card of ARES FC 39.
Noah Gugnon (8-2) – Lightweight
Noah Gugnon is a very exciting brawler, with finished in all eight of his career wins. He loves to crash in the pocket, throwing bombs with massive power. He applies heavy pressure while forcing opponents to the cage with jabs before blitzing forward with barrages of hooks. These barrages are mixed well to the head and body, confusing opponents and hurting them in multiple areas. Gugnon is very composed in the pocket and fires quick counters when hit. Clinching isn’t even a good move against him, as some of his best work comes in there with brutalizing knees and strength.
His strength in the clinch allows for easy takedowns on the cage, despite his takedowns not being too advanced. His takedowns are also timed very well, leading to a solid success rate. With three submissions in his eight wins, his rear-naked chokes provide a solid submission threat that can’t be ignored. Good takedown defense and strong ground-and-pound make bad takedown attempts costly for opponents. Gugnon struggles with rangy fighters who can pressure well while denying him the ability to brawl in the pocket. Gugnon faces 9-1 Bruno Matos at ARES FC 39, who hasn’t faced an opponent nearly as dangerous as Gugnon.
Sakhi Qambari (8-2) – Featherweight
A fighter who impressed me a lot while taping this card was Sakhi Qambari. After losing a close decision to the headliner of this card, Ghassen Jbalia, in July, Qambari bounced back with two quick finishes in other promotions. Now, he returns to ARES with six first-round finishes in eight wins, showing his dangerous finishing ability.
Qambari has faced strong competition throughout his career, with his past five opponents combining for a 33-8 record. Qambari is an extremely dangerous submission grappler, with nasty leg locks and slick chokes. His wrestling pairs well with his submission skills. He has clean takedowns and quick back takes, snatching the neck up almost instantly when given the chance. His trips are awesome to watch, wrapping the leg up while shooting and getting his opponent down with precise timing. When working on his submissions, Qambari mixes in ground-and-pound to open up transitions. He reads takedowns on the feet very well, allowing him to defend on the cage with some really nice elbows.
While Qambari’s boxing is a bit sloppy, he still has solid combinations and knows when to apply pressure. His knees time takedowns well and work the body in the clinch, with flying knees being a decent strike of his too. He has nice leg kicks and doubles up on his rear head kicks, making opponents keep their guard high. Clean switch stances are also a nice part of his game, although his gas tank could be better. Qambari faces 6-2 Gabriel Pasqualotti as the featured prelim.