NEW YORK – Benoit Saint Denis has an idea of what he’d like his next fight to be, but also knows he’s got some competition to get there.
Saint Denis (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) on Saturday had a come-to-Jesus talk with Beneil Dariush (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) that lasted all of 16 seconds to open the main card at UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden.
Advertisement
It was the third first-round knockout loss for Dariush in four fights. To make matters worse, he also missed weight for the second time as a UFC lightweight and had to give up 20 percent of his purse to the Frenchman.
Saint Denis’ win kept his perfect finishing rate intact and gave him three straight wins since back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, both of whom have fought for the lightweight title.
So now Saint Denis thinks he could bring something to the game in the form of a shot at the “BMF” title currently held by Max Holloway – a symbolic-only belt, but one that continues to hold some cache among the UFC’s favorite proverbial go-to-war fighters.
But former champion Charles Oliveira (36-11 MMA, 24-11 UFC) has been lobbying for a crack at the BMF belt, too, and that could make things interesting for Saint Denis. Oliveira holds plenty of UFC records and is coming off a bonus-winning submission of Mateusz Gamrot in front of his home fans in Brazil five weeks ago.
Advertisement
“Of course I want to fight somebody in the top five,” Saint Denis said at his post-fight news conference. “The BMF and the lightweight belt are the two belts I have my eyes on. I want to make this division the greatest again, like it’s supposed to be.
“I have a 100 percent finish rate – against such a veteran, I guarantee war. But I think Oliveira and Holloway is the same, though. Let’s see. I think it’s guaranteed war no matter who you choose.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Saint Denis lobbies for BMF fight with Holloway after UFC 322 KO
