Benoit St. Denis believes Islam Makhachev has more tools to emerge victorious at UFC 302 than Dustin Poirier.
Makhachev will defend his lightweight belt against Poirier in the main event of UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Poirier came away with the gold medal with a second-round knockout victory over St. Denis at UFC 299 in March. While St. Denis acknowledges Poirier’s superior boxing technique, “God of War” points out that Makhachev’s complete skill set cannot be overlooked.
While St-Denis still has the potential to knock out Poirier, the Frenchman believes Makhachev has the more well-rounded arsenal to get the job done, whether by knockout, submission or decision.
“It’s a great fight. Dustin Poirier is a very poised, experienced fighter. I think he’s good at boxing, but Makhachev is very well-rounded,” St. Denis told MMA Fighting at the ADXC 4 grappling event in Paris. “I’m sure he watched me and Poirier fight and also Dustin and Makhachev fight. [Charles] Olivera. We all know what the game plan is going to be: Makhachev will try to submit Poirier, then Poirier will try to knock Makhachev out.
Order now! UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier, Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+ [has] “Now there are more options. Makhachev can knock Poirier out or submit him. But I think Poirier will have to win by knockout in the end, and as for decisions, I think Makhachev has the stamina to control the fight if it goes long. We’ll see who wins this one. Either way, it’s an interesting fight.”
Following a unanimous decision loss to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in his UFC debut in 2021, St. Denis rode a five-fight winning streak to land Poirier as a top-tier opponent, and he was the favorite going into the toughest bout of his career against “The Diamond,” who ended the French star’s winning streak.
St. Denis got back on winning track with a unanimous decision win over fellow UFC fighter Marc Diakies at the ADXC 4 grappling event in Paris on May 18. The Frenchman now wants to stay active as much as possible, with his sights set on competing at either UFC Manchester in July or UFC Paris in September, and preferably both.
“I don’t know if that will happen. [Manchester on July 27 at UFC
304]I don’t know if it will be Paris. [on Sept. 28]But my manager is doing a great job. I’m working with UFC to find the best place for me to fight. I want to climb the rankings and be at the top. I feel like I belong there… If I can be on both cards, I’ll be on both cards. If it’s just Paris, that’s great too. It’s a great opportunity. I just want to fight. I want to prove that I’m the best. To do that, I need a tough opponent. So I’m waiting for UFC to work with my manager to find an opponent that everyone wants to see and prove who is the next future challenger.”
Though St. Denis lost to Poirier, “The God of War” dominated the Louisiana native in the first round and proved he has definitely belonged among the elite. The ideal targets for St. Denis’ next bout would all be fighters ranked in the top five at lightweight, but for now, the 28-year-old is happy with the highest-ranked opponents he’s available to face.
“The most interesting names to me are the order of placement. [Islam] Makhachev No.1, [Arman] “Tsarukyan No. 2, Justin Gaethje, Poirier, all of them. But of course, you have to earn that spot. I’m willing to fight whoever the UFC gives me, but I want to fight as high as I can.”
