Fares Ziam vs Matt Frevola Prediction: An even bout for all

By Saturday evening, UFC Fight Night will host the Welterweight Division bout between Fares Ziam and Matt Frevola. It is set as the Main Card (fight 9 of 14) event under the 155 lbs (70.3 kg) weight class. Fares Ziam is currently on an unbeaten run in his last three fights, which was in 2024, while Matt Frevola has only won three times in his last five fights. All action will take place at Accor Arena, Paris, France, and can be watched live on ESPN+.

Fares Ziam is the 37th Current Best MMA Welterweight Fighter and the 96th Greatest MMA Striker of All Time. He boasts of fifteen career wins and four losses. The 27-year-old fighter is fighting out of France and has an affliction with Kill Cliff FC. Throughout his career, Kelvin has never lost through a knockout and has won four bouts through this method of victory. His last fight was on February 24, 2024, in UFC fight night against Claudio Puelles on the preliminary card, winning by way of split decision. Prior to this, he was on the main card at UFC Fight Night and won against Jai Herbert via a unanimous decision. In 2019, he joined UFC promotion and has fought seven times, winning five and losing two. His recent loss came at then-ACB promotions in his bout against Terrance McKinney, which ended by a rear naked choke submission. Other losses were against Viskhan Magomadov, Haotian Wu, and Don Madge. In 2018, Fares Ziam defended his HIT Lightweight Championship title against Abner Lloveras (via Punches Knockout). 

Matt Frevola boasts of a professional career record of eleven wins, one draw, and four losses. He is nicknamed “The Steamrolla” and fights out of Tampa, Florida. He last fought on November 11, 2023, in UFC and lost to Benoit Saint-Denis via a head kick knockout. He joined UFC in 2018 and has fought ten times, winning five. Matt has never lost a bout by way of submission in his entire career. The rest of his losses were to Terrance McKinney (via Left Cross to Ground & Pound), Arman Tsarukyan (via unanimous decision), and Polo Reyes (via punches knockout). In 2018, at UFC 230, he was in a preliminary card fight against Lando Vannata, which ended in a draw via majority decision. Matt defended his Coco Beach Brawl Lightweight Championship against Daniel De Leon in 2021 via an armbar submission.

Frevola will be looking to get Ziam by submission in this bout, while Ziam will be thinking of getting it done by knockout. Ziam is being coached by Henri Hooft and Fatah Menane going into this bout. This bout is fairly even, with both fighters having to show something. Matt's recent form, Ziam, is favored most especially with the experience and younger age advantage over his opponent. I believe Ziam still has what he takes to win, and the safest bet is over 1.5 rounds.