Benoit Saint Denis proud of resurgence after 'I lost myself before the Dustin Poirier fight' |
Yesterday at 22:00 -
Benoit Saint Denis is ready to challenge for a top 10 spot again.
Three years ago, Saint Denis burst onto the scene with five straight wins in the UFC's crowded lightweight division, with none of those opponents making it past the second round. The French star was given a huge step up in competition when he faced Dustin Poirier at UFC 299 and though he started strong, Saint Denis fell in Round 2 to the more experienced Poirier.
Fast forward to UFC Paris, where Saint Denis just scored a one-sided submission win over the streaking Mauricio Ruffy. That's back-to-back victories for Saint Denis now and he's confident he's righted the ship after falling prey to bad habits early in his UFC career.
"I'm back at doing what I love to do," Saint Denis said at the evening's post-fight press conference. "I lost myself before the Dustin Poirier fight and for one year, 2024. I have been learning a lot and I made a lot of mistakes and I think my head got big. I made a lot of problems for myself, not focusing anymore on the fight game and [being] the best fighter in the world, which is what I enjoy doing.
"Now I'm back at it and I can't wait to showcase it by facing a guy like Arman [Tsarukyan], [Dan] Hooker, like [Mateusz] Gamrot, anybody inside the top 10. I know they wanted to make Arman vs. Gamrot, they wanted to make me vs. Gamrot, it didn't work, maybe me vs. Arman because obviously [Gamrot and Arman already fought], so I don't know what will be the UFC's plans. I refuse nobody, I'm back at the version of myself, which is fight as much as possible and win as much as possible no matter the opponent."
Saint Denis has a roaring French crowd behind him at Accor Arena and he made the most of the support, taking the fight to Ruffy right away and using his wrestling to force the Brazilian striker to deal with him on the mat. Ruffy defended well, but couldn't prevent Saint Denis from repeatedly scoring takedowns.
Two of Ruffy's three UFC fights were won by highlight-reel knockout, so Saint Denis made sure to respect his opponent's skills.
"I knew he was dangerous on the counter," Saint Denis said. "He's explosive in attack, too. He's one of the most dangerous opponents, especially at the start of the round when he's not tired. I just fought in my style. I mixed it up and I tired him out and I put him in my universe, which is war. I'm the 'God of War' and since the age of 19 I've been doing all kinds of warfare."
Along with Tsarukyan, Hooker, and Gamrot, Saint Denis added he'd be thrilled to match up with fan favorite Justin Gaethje. Saint Denis said in his post-fight interview that he's ready to book another bout soon if it's against a top 10 opponent, even if he's called upon on short notice.
Saint Denis referenced his past as a member of the French military to explain how he re-calibrated his mind set.
"I went back to being the soldier inside the cage," Saint Denis said. "Focusing on camp and getting trained and you go the version of the God of War back. The old version that believes in himself and is only focusing on [being] the best fighter in the world and working out for this every day and I'm happy for it."
