Dustin
Poirier will lock horns with Benoit St.
Denis in a five-round co-headliner at UFC
299.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the lightweight pairing late
Sunday evening. UFC 299 takes place on March 9 at the Kaseya Center
in Miami and will see Sean
O’Malley defend his bantamweight crown against Marlon Vera
in the evening’s main event.
A two-time lightweight title challenger, Poirier has lost two of
his last three Octagon appearances. In his lone bout of 2023, “The
Diamond” suffered a second-round knockout loss in a rematch against
Justin
Gaethje at UFC 291 on July 29. The 34-year-old Poirier has
bested the likes of Michael
Chandler, Conor
McGregor (twice), Dan Hooker,
Max
Holloway, Eddie
Alvarez, Gaethje, Anthony
Pettis and Jim Miller
during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.
After suffering a lopsided loss against Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in a short-notice promotional debut at 170
pounds, St. Denis has reeled off five consecutive triumphs under
the UFC banner, finishing all of his opponents inside the distance.
Most recently, the 28-year-old Frenchman scored a first-round
knockout of Matt
Frevola at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. “God of War” has also stopped
Thiago
Moises, Ismael
Bonfim, Gabriel
Miranda and Niklas
Stolze during his current winning streak.