UFC Paris reportedly loses bantamweight matchup due to injury

Women’s bantamweight fighter Hailey Cowan was forced to withdraw from her UFC Paris fight against Zara Fairn. At the moment, it is unclear if the UFC will put together a short-notice fight to keep Zara Fairn on the card. The news was first reported by BJPENN.com.

Cowan earned the UFC contract following a split decision win over Claudia Lite in Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). She is coming off a decision loss to Jamey-Lyn Horth in her UFC debut in April 2023. After signing the UFC contract, Hailey Cowan was expected to make her UFC debut against Ailin Perez. However, she was forced out of the contest due to illness. Another fight against Tamires Vidal also failed to come to fruition as Vidal was not medically cleared for the fight.

Meanwhile, September 2 was Zarah Fairn’s first opportunity to fight on the home turf. She is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Josiane Nunes in a featherweight contest at UFC 283. The loss prompted a move down to bantamweight and she was booked against Cowan on UFC Paris card.

UFC Paris will be headlined by a consequential heavyweight bout

France’s own Ciryl Gane will compete against Sergey Spivak in the main event of the UFC Paris card. The fight will mark ‘Bon Gamin’s return to the octagon after losing to Jon Jones in the UFC 285 heavyweight title fight. Both men will attempt to insert themselves in the title picture with a win in Paris. Rising contender Tom Aspinall is an interested observer, who is looking to fight the winner to stake a claim at the UFC title shot.