Beaten by Brazilian Renato Moicano after the fight was stopped by the referee in the third round, Frenchman Benoît Saint Denis (28 years old) will have to rebuild himself with a more modest ambition for his next fight.
The rising star fades. In front of swimmer Léon Marchand, the God of War Benoît Saint Denis (28 years old) drowned during the main event of UFC Paris at the AccorArena, engulfed by the tsunami Moicano. Torrents of punches rained down on the swollen face of the brave French fighter, unrecognizable as he needed to win to relaunch his journey towards the top of the category. “Unfortunately, I was a little asleep in the first round,” acknowledged Saint-Denis. “He (Moicano) did what he had to do to create enough damage to play the matador. I will come back stronger, I’m sorry for that, congratulations to him.”
Despite a catastrophic start to the fight, BSD delivered the promised war to his opponent, dominating the second round with his face covered in blood, but this time, the Nîmois was not able to stretch the fight to the 5th round despite the strong encouragements from the Bercy Arena. Outrageously dominated from the very first moments of this confrontation, Benoît Saint Denis was stopped by the UFC doctor, who came to assess the extent of the damage on the Frenchman’s swollen face.
This new defeat, the second in a row after a KO loss to Dustin Poirier six months earlier, marks a second and more serious halt in the irresistible rise of BSD, who will inevitably drop in the UFC rankings. For while the Frenchman was considered the underdog against American Dustin Poirier, everyone expected to see him win on Saturday night. What can he hope for now?
A Franco-French fight against Farès Ziam?
“The advantage is that the UFC likes him, we know they like him and Dana White said it after the loss to Dustin Poirier,” emphasized our discipline specialist Alexandre Herbinet on Saturday night. “Benoît Saint Denis, all his career victories have come before the limit. He is a spectacular fighter. Even in defeat tonight, he gives a war. He continues to push forward in the second round. After the rain of blows he took in the first, it’s his mental strength that makes the difference at this level. He will remain in the good books of the UFC who will propose fights to him. Will he drop out of the top 15 or will he stay at the end of the top 15? We don’t know, we’ll see what it can give.”
In the lightweight category, another Frenchman is pushing hard to make a name for himself in the top 15. On Saturday, Farès Ziam mastered American Matt Frevola, whom Benoît Saint Denis had himself defeated last year in New York, at Madison Square Garden, with a high kick out of a clinch. Ziam knocked out the American in turn with a magnificent knee strike straight on his opponent’s chin, marking his first KO in the UFC after three rounds of complete domination. A sign of potential progress… towards Benoît Saint Denis?
“In any case, after tonight, and it’s strange to say this because it’s not necessarily what we want, but Farès Ziam against Benoît Saint Denis, in terms of rankings, it makes sense,” estimated Alexandre Herbinet. “I am ready for anyone,” declared Farès Ziam at the press conference. “They can give me anyone.”