Benoit Saint Denis Shares His Side Of Dustin Poirier Fight Drama | The MMA Hour

Benoit Saint Denis discusses his upcoming UFC 299 clash with Dustin Poirier, why he thought he might get Beneil Dariush next, Dustin Poirier’s recent tweet, the timeline of the UFC announcement of the fight, if he was surprised Poirier accepted the fight, French MMA, his championship hopes, and more.

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It is going to be benois ston against Dustin porier in a fight that we thought we lost last week but of course is back on very excited to talk to the God of War the pride of France benois St Den he’s kind enough to join us right now

There he is hello benois how are you hey how are you doing I’m doing well it’s good to talk to you again thank you for joining us um where where are you right now which uh which country are you in uh I’m in Bulgaria for three weeks to to get ready for

For my next uh my next opponent why Bulgaria I was to Bo to to go there um to to train a lot of wrestling because there is an amazing wrestling coach uh named Nikki stanf and um we decided to still have the him in the team in the

Staff and to go out there and uh to bring a lot of guys with us there to to get a full training Camp so all my French staff is here um so yeah we we we just Chang a bit the schedule it’s not going to be a a training camp to improve

Wrestling it’s just going to be a usual training camp to get ready for the fight and and do you usually go to Bulgaria before your fights uh no I usually go there like uh one month per year to to get better at wrestling because uh wrestling is a is a

Sport I began the latest with like uh in 2020 2008 2019 I really began to wrestle so um I still have a lot of stuff to learn and I feel like yeah I’m getting good at it and uh yeah I’m blessed to have a very intelligent and uh full of

Experience and uh expert in in my my stuff all around me and uh I saw earlier today it seemed like you were at some sort of like I don’t know if it was like some amateur show or sparring uh was it boxing where were you at I saw in your

Instagram story where was that or what was that as this morning I just had a a boxing lesson was yeah yeah was a very very uh talented coach who was responsible for the French Olympic team in English boxing there is a tournament in in Sofia

Right now for the French team oh so he’s coaching a lot of the guys out there and I manag to to have have him by my side sometimes yeah oh that’s great um so so like I said in November after the win over Matt fora you said you know Justin

Gatei Dustin por these are the names I want and you know I think a lot of people thought like you’re going to be there very soon but maybe not the next one deep down in your heart did you think that you would get one of those names for your next

One uh no I I thought I was going to have a tough fight against the top 10 um I really believed in this benel matchup potentially but I knew my manager was working a lot on a lot of stuff but when when something is not sure or is not

Done is never telling me because I don’t want to be preparing for uker and then for Turner and then for for D and from s and then for for pu and then for Justin and then you go back from Justin to toer or whatever right so he always tells me

When he it’s almost sure like 90% sure okay and so what was your reaction when you found out it was Dustin next for you I was really really happy H he’s a tough guy a lot of tough guy in this division is the top five it is

Surprising to a lot of people that I’m facing him but I think it’s one of the only weight class where it’s surprising to face a top five opponent after five finishes in Europe so yeah I’m really happy he he he has a lot of experience he is a

Former entering champion of course so it’s really going to be a test match for me uh it’s a big test to to to to see if I’m I’m ready for for whatever is next behind po did you have any idea that there was any kind of issue between him and the

UFC about agreeing to this fight before all this happened on Thursday uh not on our side on our side everything was clear you know I had a message from uh from the the main match Matchmaker of the UFC uh we we agreed for the fight uh

Everything was okay on our side um I’m not I’m not a a big star like P is so I’m still getting fresh in the in the game so I I I don’t have the politics in my sure in my pockets and I it’s not a

Game I’m used to play or I have ever played so I’m just I’m just gonna try to do what I’m good at is taking people’s head off and going uh climbing the rankings and uh yeah getting ready for this fight and uh yeah I imagine that when you have been

This long in the UFC there is a lot more talk with with the show a lot of a lot more stuff but uh yeah really happy to have this guy in front of me uh 9th of March what was your reaction when you saw his initial tweet last Thursday that the fight was

Off what did you do uh I had a text of my manager telling me uh keep training and uh get ready because uh it’s nothing so yeah I knew I don’t know what what really happened but uh I kept focus and uh I knew I was not injured so if

Anybody was going to pull out uh I than the UFC for that but if somebody is pulling out of a fight you you you keep on the card and the other guy is going away it’s so it works so the guy that is agreeing to fight anybody is going to

Stay on the card so yeah I I was just uh doing my uh my night training and uh waiting for for what’s going to be next luckily the the drama didn’t last very long so I think just a couple hours later you were able to see that it was

All rectified but I I just wanted to ask you and and and I’m not trying to cause any sort of drama here for you but I just wanted to get like the timeline correct because I saw the the the message that Dana White posted the text message which I think was between you

And the Matchmaker you and Hunter Campbell someone in the UFC staff and then I saw an interview that one of your coaches did um with a reporter Gil Cruz where he said he found out about it during the you know when it was announced um about the fight uh in the

Night but but I saw an interview with you in French and Don and my understanding of the interview was that you knew from your manager that this was the fight and then you just didn’t know when they were going to announce it and it was your

Wife who woke you up in the middle of the night to tell you that Dana had put it out there that the fight was going to happen so you did know about it beforehand uh and maybe your coach didn’t know about it is that is that

Fair to say is that why he said that so yeah I did know the fight was going to happen the night before uh we agreed everything was agreed and um but like my manager said um when it’s not announced you are not 100% sure but yeah we we had

The green light from H kampbell uh but my coach is a a very energetic guy so um he he’s always the last guy we who are telling the fight is on because he’s going to get crazy all night long watching his fights so if it was not

Gonna be the guy we are fighting he was not gonna be happy about the announcement though yeah then the day after I had the the surprise that it was an this fast because yeah it was only um 24 hours after we we agreed to to make the

Fight though uh because it’s this far away uh I didn’t know when it was going to be announced but of course yeah I was surprised it was announced this fast yeah and your wife woke you up to tell you so like it was probably at around 5:

In the morning or something because I think it was announced around 11 o’clock here so what was it like when she woke you up to tell you it was announced yeah yeah she she she told me uh she told me uh uh green lights everything everything is green

Now I believe because uh your fight is on and uh and yeah I was very happy about it and uh yeah it’s it’s a great matchup I’m very happy about it and uh I was very happy to to to to learn from on kbo and G pel

My manager that the fight was gonna happen and then uh the announcement was pretty fast and uh yeah just a lot of Joy because uh yeah he’s a tough guy he’s a name and a figure in this weight class and uh I’m the new corer and I’m

Coming for him so I know he’s gonna be prepared because his experience and he he always delivers so yeah it’s going to be a a violent fight like uh like we talked about with Justin yeah I believe P the chin as well uh maybe the last

Fight is not the best to prove it but uh there’s there have been a lot of fights where he chin all up pretty great like the Daner fight so I think it’s gonna be a violent fight considering his last fight considering his place in the division and Sport are you surprised he

Agreed to this fight um yeah I I was surprised but when you see weight loss and you see uh uh which fight was already booked and that the guy comes from a l so he has to defend his position so I was starting to believe in

It uh more and more because um if you come from a lose usually you fight somebody uh behind you so I saw a lot of guys between him and me uh getting booked like ad and gamarro so yeah I I was starting to to hope that uh I would

Get a guy like D or a guy like like P like maybe shler I don’t know if the maybe maybe you know better than me maybe shler will finally face cor I don’t know but yeah I was starting to believe that I was gonna have somebody

Between PO on on B so he told me I spoke to him on Monday Dustin on the show and and he told me two interesting things number one um the original plan was for this to be at UFC 300 but he asked for

It to be at 299 and it was his idea to make it five rounds and not three rounds and so can I ask your thoughts on that first of all would you have preferred it be at 300 and number two what was your reaction when you found out it was going

To be a five round fight to be honest it’s even more exciting uh it’s like fighting Matt fola in New York uh when you fight the New Yorker guy in New York h uh there is some excitement from the from the crowd and I believe there will be some

Excitement from the crowd against P so um maybe he’s the underdog for the Matchmaker but uh he’s not the underdog for for the crowd and I think I will feel the excitement uh at UFC 299 uh because uh Miami is like his home you know it’s where where he’s training

He has a great team big team um yeah UFC 300 would have been crazy as well but fighting the guy that trains out of the American top team that is like a figure of of the at which is one of the the biggest professional gym in the US fighting him comain event uh

Hometown for him it’s crazy it’s uh yeah I expect it to be a tough fight and I I’m expecting him to be very excited about all this and yeah five round is good for him he believes he has the experience uh but um of course he

Has experience and of course he is used to five rounds but um I will show you that uh with the training methodology we have uh you don’t you you are not going to see me uh having C CIO issue or energy management uh in my fight it’s

Going to be a tough fight for both both of us but uh I hope he he is not expecting it to be easy and what about you benoa uh here you are relatively new to the UFC um you haven’t been around as long as he has you haven’t been training

As long as he has as former intern Champion etc etc and you are the favorite going to this fight number 11 is the favorite over number three obviously you’re very confident you believe in yourself but are you surprised so many others believe in you you know I I believe it’s a pretty

New sports on the ODS maker are not always right or I will not be there um for example the B Brothers uh they they are very very excited to watch tough when they win they win in big fashion but it doesn’t mean that the guy

Is a is a is one of the top 10 or top five in the world he is’s tough but U the odds I had was crazy and uh I I I got my victory in the first round though um I don’t know I don’t know about the

ODS you know I believe it’s uh it’s like 50/50 because um he has a experience he’s a tough guy he has a very professional stuff around him he knows what to prepare he’s uh in his hometown um so yeah I’m I’m I’m pretty

Fresh in the game but uh he has a lot of tools but yeah I’m coming prepared and I’m coming to prove that um the the the place is going to be mine and uh yeah yeah it’s as the odds is always something special and so something

Difficult to to have a real idea of uh before the the Octagon CLA and maybe this is why we we love to bet and we love to to make those ODS you know uh two days before your fight Cedric Dum is fighting in Paris and we had him on the

Show uh two weeks ago and he said without a doubt I am the face of French MMA you beat Dustin porier on March 9th is Ben was St the face of French MMA H Cedric is is a facee of kickboxing but he’s a very new he’s a newcomer in

MMA you know um but yeah he’s the face of of kickboxing in France one of the faces we have yanon we have a lot of tough guys guys that have beaten him that he has beaten as well so uh uh on those guys I’m talking about are gonna

Fight this week I believe um so he’s an exciting fighter he has punching power um and uh yeah he he’s making his place inside the the French area and u i I hope he is gonna be able to Showcase All His Glory Kickboxing skills but um I believe uh for now I

Believe in the rankings you know and for now it’s s Gan the face of the the French MMA and if buo Sani is gonna be one day champion of the lightweight division he will be the face of the the French MMA and maybe even more so

Yeah you have to prove it it’s easy to to talk but you always have to prove though uh let’s go ninth of March and we will see so what happens um and I know you’re not looking past Dustin but there’s not much space between Dustin

And the very top of the division you win on March 9th where where do you think that leaves you what do you think you get after that it’s a tough question to answer because like you said I’m never looking past the fight but uh of course uh

There’s not a lot of names um uh left so yeah it very interesting stuff could happen after after a fight after this fight but uh I’m gonna do my best uh to keep it secret for now but if uh things are going my way against the you you will

Sure here from me don’t worry about that okay so you you know a plan there is a plan you just don’t want to share it is that fair yeah of course there is always a plan but uh you know you you can plan as much as you

Want but uh when uh when you are starting to get kicked in the face or punch in the face you never know if the plan is going to work though uh yeah we will see but yeah of course there’s always something to think about and the the future is uh is gonna be

A yeah my my future as an MMA fighter is uh is going to have a big step on 9 of March and uh let’s see what it’s going to be it’s like Mike Tyson said right everyone has a plan until you get punched in the uh in the mouth so of

Course there are always plans but uh benois could you imagine everything goes your way March 9th and then perhaps I don’t know right after the Le uh in the summer it’s a title fight in par with everyone singing while you’re walking out there fighting for the lightweight title could

This happen this year you think you fight for the belt this year if it all goes your way is that possible H you know um uh for a french guy everything is possible uh yeah you know it’s a it’s a it’s a concept we have in France though

Nothing is impossible for a french guy let’s see okay fair enough you I know you don’t want to say too much you don’t want to look past Dustin can I ask when you envision the fight how do you see it out how do you see yourself winning on the 9th of

March uh I see a very tough fight uh I see a very entertaining fight and um one of us is going to be drawing first so uh yeah I can just say that uh uh it’s going to be mental for both of us and uh I do believe it’s going to be a

Huge test and uh a fight we will be proud of and uh I cannot wait to to have Z octagon closed and ever ever our tools to to show to everybody I can’t wait as well uh kudos to you kudos to him for uh accepting the

Fight as well a little over a month away going to be incredible and and your rise is really something and it’s great to see so many people backing you as well so um much respect to you Beno thank you very much for the time I know it’s

Getting late over there so we will let you go uh good luck in training and of course good luck on March 9th in Miami thank you AEL thank you very much Cheers Cheers there he is the God of War benois St who appears to be on a rocket

Ship thanks for watching we appreciate it very much hey if you like this video give us the old thumbs up subscribe as well you can get many more of these videos on the channel so please do that we would love you forever if you did so