Benoit St.
Denis is eyeing a who’s who of the Ultimate Fighting
Championship’s lightweight division after a spectacular knockout
win over Matt
Frevola.
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Saint-Denis (13-1) took on Frevola (11-4) on the UFC
295 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday.
“God of War” floored the New York native 1:31 in the opening frame
into with a shin-to-chin left head kick before following up with
some ground-and-pound that was hardly necessary before referee Mike
Beltran stepped in.
St. Denis claims he was on the lookout for striking opportunities
while on the break from scrambles.
“I knew he was not going to exchange too much in the scrambles with
me,” the Frenchman said in his post-fight Octagon interview. “… I
knew that he doesn’t win the scrambles, there’s going to be
opportunities after the scramble.”
St. Denis also put elite lightweight contenders on notice, which
included cageside guests Dustin
Poirier and Justin
Gaethje. While UFC gold remains his eventual goal, the
Frenchman is already eyeing Gaethje’s BMF title or a main event
booking in front of his home fans in Paris opposite Polish standout
Mateusz
Gamrot.
“I’m going to get that BMF belt. Then I’m going to get Islam
Makhachev. I’m coming for everybody in the lightweight
division,” he said. “It’s not going to be long before I have the
belt around my waist. I would like to go for Dustin
Poirier, [Mateusz] Gamrot, Justin
Gaethje, as fast as possible. Gamrot is European, let’s make a
main event in Paris.”
After suffering his lone pro loss in his UFC debut against Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in 2021, Saint-Denis has now racked up five
straight finishes, all coming within the first two rounds.