A lightweight banger is headed to Paris.
Benoit Saint Denis and Mauricio Ruffy will collide Sept. 6 at UFC Fight Night 258 at Accor Arena.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Saint Denis’ gym, Bulgarian Top Team, first announced the fight.
Saint Denis (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) bounced back May 10 when he defeated short-notice replacement Kyle Prepolec by second-round submission. Prior to that win, Saint Denis was finished in back-to-back fights against Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano.
Ruffy (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will join his Fighting Nerds teammate Caio Borralho, who headlines the card vs. Nassourdine Imavov. One of the hottest rising lightweights, Ruffy has wowed viewers with his capoeira style, which was on full display in his most recent outing when he knocked out King Green with a spinning wheel kick in March.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 285 lineup includes:
- Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho
- Benoit Saint Denis vs. Mauricio Ruffy
- Ante Delija vs. Marcin Tybura
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Paul Craig
- Mason Jones vs. Bolaji Oki
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Andreas Gustafsson
- Brendson Ribeiro vs. Oumar Sy
- Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
- Yuneisy Duben vs. Kennedy Freeman
- William Gomis vs. Robert Ruchala
- Kaue Fernandes vs. Fares Ziam
- Sam Patterson vs. Trey Waters
