Benoit Saint Denis has spoken out after enduring a brutal beatdown in his main event fight with Renato Moicano at UFC Fight Night 243 in Paris, France on Saturday night.
Moicano had been able to take Saint Denis down early in the opening round and then went to work on his face with nasty elbow strikes that opened up a big cut to his right eye, while more blows left him with huge swelling to both eyes.
Saint Denis showed his toughness to survive that sustained shellacking for a full round and actually went on to make more of a fight of it in the second round before cage-side doctor called the fight off after deeming that BSD was unfit to continue, leading to a TKO victory for Moicano.
“A big thank you to everyone for your support, it was absolutely unbelievable to be here,” Saint Denis had said through an interpreter immediately after the fight. “Unfortunately, in that first round I came out and I was a little bit sleepy, and it allowed him to do enough damage to then play the Matador in the later rounds. So, I’m sorry for that. I’ll come back stronger. Sorry for that performance, but I was proud to represent the flag.”
Saint Denis has since issued a statement (translated from French) talking more about the fight.
“It wasn’t my day, this sport is hard but incredible,” Saint Denis said. “Thank you to everyone for your unwavering support. Proud to have been able to represent France in the octagon and at home. Respect to my opponent for facing me at home, and congratulations to Renato Moicano. God tests us, and that’s nothing to compare with what I could experience.”
By the end of last year Saint Denis was pushing towards title contention after a dominant run of form saw him rack up five wins in a row inside the distance.
However, a 2nd round KO defeat to Dustin Poirier in a fight that he’d been winning up to that point together with this latest setback likely now puts an end to a disappointing 2024 campaign for the ‘God Of War’.
