MMA: Frenchman Benoît Saint Denis loses at UFC 299, knocked out by American Dustin Poirier

Benoît Saint Denis a été mis ko par Dustin Poirier. MAXPPP – bonnaud guillaume

Despite a more than convincing start to the fight, Benoit Saint Denis suffered the law of Dustin Poirrier in the second round, who sent the Frenchman to the ground with a left uppercut followed by a violent right hook .

Rising value in MMA, the Frenchman from Nîmes Benoît Saint Denis suffered a setback by being knocked out by the experienced American Dustin Poirier on Saturday during UFC 299 in Miami. Saint Denis, who seemed to dominate the fight, experienced a violent end in the 2nd round (out of 5), knocked to the ground with a hook before being finished off with a right, leaving him on the ground, bleeding, under the cheers of the public, won over to his opponent.

Given favorite of this lightweight fight, Saint Denis (ranked 12th) was knocked out by Poirier (3rd), a great aging UFC fighter (35 years old) who had twice dominated the legend Conor McGregor in 2021 but remained on a defeat last year. “He hurt me, he's strong,” greeted Poirier after the fight, with respect for his French opponent.

"I took this fight because he finished his previous five before the limit, even though he wasn't very well known. He's a dangerous guy. I have a lot of respect for Saint Denis, his state of mind. He will come back,” he added. The fight took place under the eyes of former President Donald Trump, cheered by the crowd during a scripted finish.

Trump, who campaigned during the day in the potentially key state for the presidential election of Georgia, is a regular at UFC evenings. In Miami, Saint Denis perhaps missed the opportunity to be offered a fight for the lightweight belt, he who had been enjoying an irresistible rise until then.

Second defeat for Saint Denis

The former special forces member, who got into MMA late in life before joining the UFC in 2021, had five spectacular victories before the limit, the last of which in November 2023 against the American Matt Frevola. On Saturday, "God of war", his nickname, made his entrance as usual to the sound of commando singing and the iconic "Seine-Saint-Denis style&quot ; of NTM.

He immediately put Poirier through a suffocating first round, working him to the body, on the ground, by belting him, to try to submit him. A tactic that seemed to pay off as the American seemed exhausted by the Frenchman's infernal pace.

"BSD" attacked the second round (of five planned, five minutes each) with the same strategy, but was picked off by the lively fists of Justin "Diamond" Poirier. A first uppercut from the left made the Frenchman wobble, who then sought the clinch again.

Two terrible right-left hooks then reached Saint Denis, who was knocked to the ground by another right hook before being finished off by a violent punch while ;he was already lying in the middle of the octagon.

"BSD" thus suffered the second defeat of his career and will have to go through intermediate battles before catching a glimpse of the summit. During the following fight, the last and main one of the evening, the American Sean O'Malley retained his bantamweight belt against the Ecuadorian Marlon Vera unanimously judges.