MMA: “I have never lost two fights in a row, and I am not going to start on Saturday”, Benoît Saint Denis challenges Poirier this weekend in Miami

Le Nîmois Benoît Saint Denis, 12e mondial, gagne de plus en plus en notoriété MAXPPP – bonnaud guillaume

The irresistible Gardois Saint Denis facing Poirier, the "uncrowned king"

The French fighter Benoît Saint Denis, with his irresistible rise in MMA, faces the American Dustin Poirier on Saturday in Miami during UFC-299, for a first fight against a star of the discipline. At 35, Dustin Poirier (29 wins, 8 losses with the UFC) is no longer quite the man who twice dominated the legend Conor McGregor in 2021.

Saint-Denis, the rising fighter

But he remains world number 3 in lightweight, and therefore presents a superb opportunity for Saint Denis.“I'm happy, it's a big fight with big stakes. I do this sport for that, I am well prepared, I have no injuries, everything is fine", Benoît Saint Denis explained last week on RMC, guest of the Super Moscato Show.

Poirier is a bit like the king without a crown

"Poirier is a bit like the king without a crown. A guy who was interim champion but always lost to the champion at the defining moment of his career", sums up "BSD". "This is kind of a world semi-final opportunity for me", estimates the 28-year-old Frenchman, whose fight is placed just below the bill of the evening, between the American bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley and the Ecuadorian Marlon Vera .

"God of War" (his nickname) favorite part  

A sign of the importance taken by Saint Denis in the American organization. Twelfth in the lightweight world, Saint Denis is the fighter who is moving up in his category and remains on five victories before the limit. "God of War", his nickname, is given favorite by the betting companies against Poirier (at 10 p.m., 4 a.m.  Sunday Paris time).

In November 2023, Saint-Denis only needed a minute and a half of fighting to crush the American Matt Frevola. In September, he had already spectacularly defeated the Brazilian Thiago Moises at UFC Paris.

I'm finding my style

A former special forces fighter, Saint Denis started MMA late, before losing his first UFC fight in October 2021, contested in the higher weight category. Since then, he has only gained and gained power.

Five five-minute covers

"It takes time to have a level in all components of MMA, today I manage to find my style and to have the technical and physical weapons to be present in the octagon", he explains. "There I feel in great shape and I am very proud. I took the steps gradually."

"I've never lost two fights in a row, and I'm not starting on Saturday", assured Poirier, defeated by Justin Gaethje for his last round in the octagon in July 2023. "I think my footwork is better, I think I move better. Obviously he is very powerful, he is very aggressive. But I'm dodging better, I'm thinking of knocking him out. If the fight drags on, experience will be preponderant", he adds.

Saint Denis will fight for the first time in his career in five five-minute rounds. Unless he gets rid of his opponent first, as he has been doing for months.