Benoit St.
Denis believes Islam
Makhachev has more tools at his disposal than Dustin
Poirier to get his hands raised at
UFC 302.
Makhachev is slated to defend his lightweight strap against Poirier
in the main event at UFC 302 on June 1 at Prudential Center in
Newark, New Jersey. Poirier made his case for the gold bid with a
second-round knockout win over St. Denis at UFC
299in March. While St. Denis acknowledges Poirier’s elite
boxing, “God of War” notes that Makhachev’s complete skillset
cannot go unnoticed.
Advertisement
While St. Denis is leaving room for a potential knockout from
Poirier, the Frenchman believes Makhachev has a more well-rounded
arsenal to get the job done, either via knockout, submission or
decision.
“It’s a great fight. Dustin Poirier is a very composed and
experienced fighter. I do believe he has boxing on his side, but
Makhachev is very well-rounded,” St. Denis recently told MMA Fighting at the ADXC 4
grappling event in Paris. “I do believe he has watched my fight
against Poirier, as well as Dustin’s fight with [Charles] Olivera.
Everybody knows what the game plan is going to be. It’s going to be
Makhachev trying to submit Poirier, and Poirier trying to knock out
Makhachev.
p.m. ET on ESPN+
“Makhachev [has] more options. Makhachev can knock out or submit
Poirier. But I see Poirier only having the knockout win eventually,
and decision-wise, I also see Makhachev having the physicality to
dominate the fight if it goes long. We will see who will win this
fight; it’s an interesting fight anyway.”
After coming up on the short side of a unanimous decision against
Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in his
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in 2021, St. Denis racked
up a five-fight finishing streak to earn himself top tier opponent
in Poirier. St. Denis was even the favorite going into the toughest
matchup of his career against “The Diamond,” who derailed the
French standout’s run.
St. Denis returned to his winning ways with a unanimous decision
win over fellow UFC fighter Marc
Diakiese at the ADXC 4 grappling event in Paris on May 18. The
Frenchman is now looking to stay as active as he can and is eyeing
a slot on either
UFC Manchester in July or
UFC Paris in September, and ideally both.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be [Manchester on July 27 at UFC
304], I don’t know if it’s going to be Paris [on Sept. 28]. But my
manager is doing great work, he’s working with the UFC to find the
best place for me to compete. And I want to climb the rankings and
get at the top. I feel like I do belong there… If I can be on both
cards, I will be on both cards. If it’s going to be just Paris,
it’s great as well. It’s a great opportunity. I just want to fight.
I just want to show that I’m the best. And for that, I need a tough
opponent. So I’m waiting for the UFC to work with my manager to
find a matchup that everybody will want to see, and that will prove
who is the next future contender.”
Despite St. Denis’ loss against Poirier, “God of War” dominated the
Louisiana native in the first round, proving that he certainly
belongs amongst the elite. While St. Denis’ ideal targets for his
next contest are all Top 5-ranked lightweights, for now, the
28-year-old is content with the highest-ranked opponent he can
draw.
“The names that are interesting to me the most are in order of the
placement: [Islam] Makhachev No. 1, [Arman] Tsarukyan No. 2,
Justin
Gaethje, Poirier, all those guys. But, of course, you need to
earn that. I will fight anybody that the UFC is going to give me,
but I want to fight as high as possible.”