Dustin Poirier Knocks Out Benoit Saint Denis

Benoit Saint Denis entered the octagon at Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla. on Saturday with an opportunity to leapfrog most of the 155-pound division.  He faced former interim lightweight champion and third-ranked contender Dustin Poirier in the UFC 299 co-main event.

Poirier entered the fight coming off a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in his last fight.  The always dangerous contender had never lost back-to-back fights and wasn’t planning to.  The 12th-ranked Saint Denis was riding a five-fight winning streak.

Saint Denis landed first with a leg kick.  Poirier responded with a hard leg kick.  Saint Denis looked to get the fight to the ground but Poirier applied a guillotine choke.  Saint Denis rolled to escape.  He looked to get Poirier to the ground and delivered knees to the legs of the former interim titleholder.  Poirier reversed the position but Saint Denis connected with a combination.  Poirier again looked for a guillotine choke but Saint Denis defended the submission attempt.  

Saint Denis pressed Poirier and landed knees to the body.  Poirier worked to get the fight to the ground.  Saint Denis used a kimura to stay on his feet.  Saint Denis pressed forward with punches.  His pace had been furious.  Poirier looked for another guillotine and Saint Denis defended it.  Saint Denis took Poirier’s back and applied a body triangle with a minute remaining in the round.  Poirier defended his neck but Said Denis transitioned to an armbar.  Poirier escapes the submission attempt and the round ended.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Saint Denis.

Saint Denis pressed Poirier and Poirier landed a right hand that stunned Saint Denis.  Poirier, against his corner’s wishes, went for a guillotine choke.  Saint Denis escapes and took Poirier’s back.  Poirier reversed the position and Saint Denis stood.  Saint Denis worked for a takedown.  He backed up a step and threw punches.  Poirier separated and landed a left hand.  Poirier landed a right hand.  A follow-up right hand dropped Saint Denis.  Poirier thought about another guillotine choke but didn’t go for it.  He landed another right hand that sent Saint Denis crashing to the canvas ending the fight.  

The official time of the stoppage was 3:32 of the second round.  

THE DIAMOND GETS THE KO IN ROUND 2 😤#UFC299 | @DustinPoirier pic.twitter.com/DouV3eQeKD

— UFC (@ufc) March 10, 2024