Benoit Saint Denis made some changes after his loss to Renato Moicano last year.
After Dustin Poirier knocked him out to snap his five-fight winning streak, Saint Denis was dominated by Moicano in a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss in the UFC Fight Night 243 headliner.
Saint Denis (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) admits the pressure of his first UFC headliner on home soil got to him, and he underwent some recent coaching changes that helped him get back on track with a submission finish of Kyle Prepolec at UFC 315 in May.
“Against Moicano, I wasn’t myself,” Saint Denis told reporters in French during Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 258 media day. “It was the first opening round that I ever lost in my career and that I start like that. In my previous fights, I had never lost the first round despite fighting solid competition. I was a bit lost.
“There was a lot of pressure, and I think it takes time to get accustomed to all this pressure. Today I’ve relieved that, and I’d like to find the 2019 version of Benoit again, who started MMA, and what we rediscovered with Nico, with all the improvements we’ve done, which is a warrior who wants to fight as much as possible and win as much as possible regardless of opponent.”
Saint Denis takes on red-hot lightweight contender Mauricio Ruffy (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 258 (ESPN+) co-main event at Accor Arena in Paris. Ruffy is ranked behind Saint Denis, but the French fighter is focused on putting on an impressive showing.
“It’s always about the way the fight goes and to be honest, as I said, MMA is about fighting as much as possible and winning as much as possible,” Saint Denis said. “The opponent matters, but not as much as people think. The victory, the quantity, and quality of the fight is what matters the most.”
