It’s now official: Benoît Saint Denis is part of the UFC lightweight elite (-70 kg). Three days after his incredible victory at UFC 322 in New York against Beneil Dariush, the French MMA fighter discovered his new ranking this Tuesday. And now he is in 8th place in this category, still dominated by Ilia Topuria.
From Saturday to Sunday, the appearance of the former special forces member made a big impression. Entering the cage against the 9th ranked player in the division, Bayonnais delivered a terrible knockout to him by touching him with his left hook in just 16 seconds. A win that opened the door to entering the top 10 for him.
This new ranking perfectly reflects this observation. Thanks to this success, Benoît Saint Denis replaced his opponent and even gained an additional place thanks to the loss of Islam Makhachev, who became champion of the high category on the same evening at Madison Square Garden.
Four Frenchmen in the rankings
Now ranked 8th, the Frenchman can target higher caliber opponents. In front of him, Mateusz Gamrot could be an option even though he seems too unambitious. Losing the duel between Dan Hooker (6) and Arman Tsarukyan (1), who face each other this Saturday, is another. Finally, Justin Gaethje, former BMF (Baddest motherf*cker) belt holder, who was nominated by BSD, could be his opponent in the future.
Three other Frenchmen feature in the UFC rankings. Manon Fiorot is the first challenger at flyweight, while Ciryl Gane takes the same position at heavyweight after his meeting with Tom Aspinall was called off. Nassourdine Imavov was 2nd in the middleweight category.
