Salahdine Parnasse entered the UFC with rave reviews last weekend, as he dismantled Dan Hooker and put him away inside of a round. The bout had fans and media, alike, projecting Parnasse as a serious player in the UFC’s already stacked Lightweight division. The Frenchman’s debut in Paris might have also made big waves somewhere the UFC really cares about, too… social media.
UFC President Dana White spoke with the media after his Tuesday Night Contender Series show last night. Parnasse was one of the topics that came up. And White appeared very happy with what he got out of the former KSW champion.
“Incredible,” offered White when reflecting on Parnasse’s performance. “And he was the third biggest debut on social media that we’ve ever had.”
In an unusual move, for him, White didn’t keep the other two fighters’ names close to his chest (unlike with his supposed $11 million man). He came right out and let us know that Paddy Pimblett and Raul Rosas Jr. were the only men to make bigger splashes on socials than Parnasse.
Pimblett built his popularity through Cage Warriors and a funny hair cut. He was signed to UFC in 2021 and debuted at UFC Vegas 36 on September 4. That event was headlined by Derrick Brunson vs. Darren Till (Brunson got the RNC finish).
Pimblett and Rosas Jr. are a combined 12-2 since those debut fights. Both men benefited from a slow build towards fights at the top of their divisions. Parnasse seems like he wants to skip all that and get right to the big fights. And White doesn’t seem opposed to that idea.
When asked about Parnasse calling out Max Holloway on Saturday, White said: “The crowd was incredible, the fight was great and calling out Max Holloway is pretty crazy.”
White was then asked if he was interested in that potential match-up.
“Anything is interesting,” he said. “The fact that that guy wants to fight Max Holloway now is… impressive. I like it.”
Given what we’ve seen already, Parnasse vs. Holloway probably has a great shot at being the biggest sophomore UFC effort for a fighter on social media.
