In MMA, Frenchman Benoît Saint-Denis knocks out. the American Matt Frevola and confirms his status as a rising star

2023-11-12 10:45:18
Benoît Saint-Denis celebrates his victory after defeating the American Matt Frevola, Saturday November 11, 2023, at Madison Square Garden, in New York. SARAH STIER / AFP

Frenchman Benoît Saint-Denis, a former special forces soldier converted to MMA, crushed the American Matt Frevola in the first round, Saturday November 11 in New York, for his sixth UFC fight. With this success, “BSD” (27 years old, 5 wins, 1 loss) continues to climb the hierarchy and opens the doors to the top 15 lightweights in the UFC, barely four years after his debut in the discipline. .

In one minute thirty-one seconds of combat, Saint-Denis delivered ten blows to his opponent. After recovering from a trip to the ground, he kicked him in the head, knocking him to the ground and throwing punches before the referee stopped him, in the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York , on the UFC 295 card.

Benoît Saint-Denis had already spectacularly defeated the Brazilian Thiago Moises at UFC Paris, two months earlier. UFC 295 suffered the withdrawal of legend Jon Jones a few weeks ago, who was scheduled to face Stipe Miocic in the heavyweight category.

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Alex Pereira wins the under 93 kg belt

In the same category, it was ultimately the Englishman Tom Aspinall who put on a show by dominating the Russian Sergei Pavlovich, who had six victories by knockout. in the first round. Aspinall knocked out. his opponent with a right after barely more than a minute of combat, seizing an interim belt.

The main fight of the evening involved the under 93 kg belt, won by the Brazilian Alex Pereira, who needed two rounds to dominate the Czech Jiri Prochazka. Pereira violently hit his opponent with a right hook during a standing phase, before the referee stopped the fight.

The World with AFP