Aboubakar Younousov just made the loudest case yet for a UFC contract, and he made it all over Tyson Nam’s face.
The Ares FC bantamweight champion stayed perfect at 9-0 on Saturday at Ares FC 44 in Eckbolsheim, France, where the cageside doctor stopped his title defense against the former UFC fighter just past the halfway mark of Round 3. Nam was bleeding badly enough by then that nobody needed a second opinion. Bloody Elbow reported that fans have started pushing the UFC to sign the Frenchman, with some calling him “the best bantamweight outside of the UFC.”
The fight went the way Nam fights usually go. The Hawaiian has spent his career as a fan favorite who prefers standing in the pocket and swinging. Younousov obliged, the two traded heavy shots, and the blood started pouring. On Halloween, of all nights.
The record
The win was Younousov’s fifth straight. Bloody Elbow counted it as his third defense of the Ares bantamweight belt. Ares itself had a bigger number in mind, posting on X that it was “Une cinquième défense de ceinture validée pour notre sanguinaire champion Aboubakar Younousov,” which translates to a fifth validated defense for its bloodthirsty champion. Somebody’s math is off. Either way, he keeps the belt and the zero.
For Nam, who is 43, it’s a rough stretch. He was released by the UFC in 2023 and has now lost two title fights since. Last December, Abdul Hussein knocked him out in a bout for the inaugural Ice Cage Fighting bantamweight title. Saturday made it three losses in a row.
The UFC pitch
Younousov, who fights under the nickname Thorin, is trying to break into a division that was already loaded before Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili went to war in their trilogy at UFC 333. The 135-pound top 15 is not a place you stroll into.
The fan reaction Bloody Elbow collected ran mostly one direction. One fan wrote: “Should sign with the UFC in 2027, he’s really good.”
Another fan pointed to the business risk of waiting too long: “UFC gonna need to make a move before Abou gets tired waiting and goes to PFL.”
Not everyone was sold. One doubter wrote: “Good prospect but I think he’s still lacking to be among the top 15 in the UFC division.”
There’s no word from the UFC, and no reporting that talks with the promotion have started. For now, the push is coming from the fans.
Quick take
I’d be careful treating a 43-year-old on a three-fight skid as proof that anybody is ready for the UFC’s best. Nam was always going to stand there and trade, and that made him the right opponent for a highlight. He was a poor test of whether Younousov can deal with a wrestler who wants to hold him against the fence for 15 minutes. Still, 9-0 with a stack of belt defenses is a real résumé, and the doubters are arguing about the top 15, which already concedes he belongs in the building. Somebody at the UFC should keep his number handy for the next time a bantamweight pulls out on 10 days’ notice. That’s how the good ones get in anyway.
