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“No Energy, No Reflexes” – Knocked Out Cold by Dustin Poirier, Benoit St Denis Figured Out Loophole in UFC 299 Humiliation

ByAnirban Chatterjee

Sep 23, 2024 | 2:58 PM EDT

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What's Your Perspective On

Did Benoit St. Denis underestimate Dustin Poirier, or was he just not ready for the big leagues?

Benoit Saint -Denis is one of those rare fighters who has made an impression in a very limited amount of time. Since making his debut at UFC 267, ‘God Of War’ is one of the consistent performers in the lightweight division. Most experts believe he has the ability to become the next champion. Currently, the Frenchman is gearing up to get back to winning ways when he takes on Renato Moicano at UFC Fight Night next. BSD faced Dustin Poirier in his last fight at UFC 299 and was knocked out in the second round. After the fight, he pointed out that he had fought ‘The Diamond’ on antibiotics. He has now shared the consequences he had to face because of that.

With a head kick that stopped Matt Frevola 90 seconds into their bout, the former French paratrooper solidified his place in the shark pit of the lightweight elite. There, in the storied Madison Square Garden of New York City, Saint-Denis made his call to compete against the finest at 155 pounds. Dustin Poirier granted his demand for a five-round co-main event, and the “God of War” appears as composed as you could want before what will surely be the biggest fight of his career. Saint-Denis had spent much of his fight camp in Bulgaria getting ready for Poirier. He goes there once or twice a year to hone his grappling techniques, but this time, he made the decision to focus all of his training efforts there.

However, we now know that his opponent was nowhere close to his full fitness, as revealed by a post on Instagram by FreakMMA. The 28-year-old said, ‘I had no energy, no reflexes. If you watched the fight, I couldn’t even take him down’. The former special forces commando further added, “Every time he went down was because he went for the guillotines. He was able to find my neck because my takedown shots were so slow. I couldn’t even squeeze my arms, I had nothing. I was in better shape in round 3 vs Dos Santos than in round 1 vs Poirier.”

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A win against Poirier would have helped Saint-Denis get close to a title shot. However, he promised to come back and work on his weaknesses, and he took to his Instagram account to share a heartfelt message with his fans. His next challenger is a man who is one of the most unpredictable fighters in the UFC. The Brazilian fighter Renato Moicano has been unbeaten in his last three and is high on confidence. This was exactly the case when BSD met Dustin Poirer at UFC 299 and the former special forces member is more than capable of winning the fight.

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Joe Rogan, who has seen some fantastic fighters from close quarters, rates the Frenchman very highly. In one of his JRE episodes, the 57-year-old shared his honest opinion on the lightweight fighter.

Joe Rogan feels Benoit Saint-Denis has the killer instinct in him

It’s never an easy feat to amass five consecutive victories in the UFC, but Benoit-Saint Denis did that. Hailing from France, the former special forces member is a rare mix of technique and strength. His training sessions consist of a mix of intense grappling along with high-paced sparring sessions. Is this the reason for his success in the UFC? Joe Rogan doesn’t quite feel so. According to the 57-year-old, it’s his attitude that has helped in his journey so far.

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What’s your perspective on:

Did Benoit St. Denis underestimate Dustin Poirier, or was he just not ready for the big leagues?

Have an interesting take?

In one of his episodes, Rogan shared his honest opinion of the Frenchman. He said, “The man is straight-up killer. I think this guy has all the potential in the world. He’s got a spectral quality and a real killer instinct.” Working with the special forces has definitely helped the 28-year-old develop his fighting game. However, he needs to get back to winning ways to get closer to the title. The lightweight division is stacked with some elite fighters at the moment, and only a win can guarantee ‘BSD’ his next big fight.

Who are you rooting for at the upcoming UFC Fight Night? Let us know your pick in the comments below.

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