NEW YORK – UFC lightweight [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] believes he’s ready to enter the top tier of the division, and wants a main event fight in France.
Saint-Denis (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) capped off an impressive 2023 campaign with a head kick finish of Matt Frevola (11-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) in the first round of their UFC 295 main card bout. It was the third finish of the year for Saint-Denis and his fifth straight overall. The 27-year-old Frenchman has been on a tear and wants big things going forward.
“I’m going to fight everybody they give me, but really I would like really to make a big main event in France,” Saint-Denis told reporters during a post-fight news conference. “… A guy like Dustin Poirier or (Mateusz) Gamrot. You know, it’s unfortunate for him, but he got a victory because a guy got injured with (Rafael) Fiziev with a low kick or a body kick. So, I’m asking for him again, or Dustin Poirier. He just lost, he’s ranked, and he has to fight a guy behind him because he’s on the loss. I know he’s a big name, but I’m going to be an even bigger name if I’m working like that.”
Saint-Denis suffered his first pro loss in his UFC debut against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, but since then has looked like one of the most promising rising stars in the division. Not only has he been a finishing machine with a pair of first-round finishes and three second-round stoppages, but he’s also taken home three bonuses.
If Saint-Denis could have it his way, he would challenge for the BMF title in the near future and then shoot for the division’s undisputed championship.
“I’m going to get that BMF belt because I deserve it, then I’m going to go for Islam Makhachev,” Saint-Denis told Joe Rogan during his in-cage post-fight interview. “He won’t do three rounds with me, nobody is going to do three rounds with me. I’m going to catch everybody. I’m coming for everybody in the lightweight division. It’s not going to last long until I have the belt around my waist, believe me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.