This past Saturday on the main card of UFC Paris, we saw a battle between two lightweight contenders who were trying to get a number by their name. Top contenders Thiago Moises (17-7) and Benoit Saint-Denis (12-1) battled it out in Paris.
Of course, Saint-Denis had a huge crowd backing him as the hometown fighter. Saint-Denis lost his UFC debut back in 2021, but he had three impressive wins in a row leading up to Saturday. Moises was a big step up and was an opponent who was going to tell us exactly where Saint-Denis is in his development.
Well, Saint-Denis fought like a monster on Saturday. From his relentless pressure to his ferocious attacks, he never gave Moises much of a chance to even breathe. He battered him over the first two round and near the end of the second, he had him pressed against the cage and he was raining down shots. After several warnings from the ref, the fight was called off and Saint-Denis picked up his fourth straight UFC victory.
What’s next after UFC Paris?
Make no mistake about it, this was a huge win for Saint-Denis. He needed a dominant win like this to solidify his case to be ranked in the top fifteen. To be honest, I expected to see his name when the UFC rankings came out today. Unfortunately for Saint-Denis, he is not ranked.
Diego Ferreira holds the 15 spot on the heels of his knockout over Michael Johnson. Granted, that knockout win came after losing three straight fights. I would personally put Saint-Denis ahead of him, but perhaps that opens the door for the two of them to fight for that ranking in the future.
It’s not a bad fight at all. Another fight the UFC could look to make his Saint-Denis against Matt Frevola. You know Frevola won’t turn down anyone and would be down to get into a brawl with Saint-Denis. If you want to go with real name recognition, how about Paddy Pimblett.
Pimblett is not ranked, but his name holds a ton of value. Perhaps the UFC would look to pair Saint-Denis up against Paddy The Baddy. Time will tell but Saint-Denis is definitely someone to keep your eye on.