Poirier vs Saint-Denis Prediction: God Of War Looks To Declare On The Lightweight Division
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Ryan Sidle
UFC 299 on Saturday night features some huge bouts, in fact it could be argued that it’s bigger than the ‘headline’ show of UFC 300 next month. Here we’ll be turning our attention to the co-main event.
It’s the old tradition of the experienced fighter vs the coming man of the lightweight division. We’ve got all the information for our Poirier vs Saint-Denis prediction.
Inside the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, fans could witness the passing of the torch in the 155 lbs division, as Poirier looks to defend his position in the rankings.
For Saint-Denis, it’s the biggest fight of his career so far. A victory could catapult him into title contention as everyone lines up behind champion Islam Makhachev.
UFC 299: Poirier vs Saint-Denis Prediction
It’s such an intriguing fight in the UFC 299 co-main event, as a man who has seen it all in the UFC looks set to take on an opponent who is still only seven bouts into his career in Dana White’s promotion.
Will the up and comer be able to get through his first five round fight? We’ll explain everything in our Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis prediction.
We can’t wait for this one as it’s sure to be an exciting 25 minutes, if it lasts that long. Whatever the result, it’s sure to be a good one.
Dustin Poirier Preview
There aren’t many fighters who have been through as much in UFC as Poirier, especially without ever being crowned as undisputed champion in their division. The Diamond is one of the all time greats in the company.
He made his MMA debut as far back as 2009 and made his debut in Dana White’s promotion at UFC 125 back on New Year’s Day in 2011.
Poirier has had 29 fights during his time in UFC to date, making Saturday’s appearance his 30th. That will put him joint 11th on the all-time list.
He can point to wins over Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethjie, Eddie Alvarez, Dan Hooker, Michael Chandler and two big victories over Conor McGregor as some of the biggest in his career.
His second victory over Holloway earned him the UFC interim lightweight title. His next fight was against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the unified title, but he came up short against the Dagestani,
The most recent three fights of his career have left him with a 29-8 overall record, after losing two of them. They came against Charles Oliveira, once again for the lightweight belt, and against Gaethjie, for the BMF title.
Poirier has 14 wins by KO, eight by submission and seven via judges’ decision. It shows he’s got the potential to win by any method.
His eight defeats have come from three knockouts, three submissions and two from the judges. Interestingly, only two of his fights have gone the full five rounds, which could be important when it comes to our Poirier vs Saint-Denis prediction.
Benoit Saint-Denis Preview
Whilst his opponent may have seen and done it all in the UFC, Saint-Denis is a relative novice. That’s especially when it comes to competing in five round bouts, something he’s never done before. In fact, the judges have only once had to decide one of his fights.
That could all have an impact on this one, with many believing that the Frenchman’s only chance of winning is inside the distance. If Poirier can drag it out then can the ‘God of War’ keep going?
Our Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis prediction might come down to that, but what exactly has the 28-year-old shown in his MMA career so far?
The former member of the French army only made his MMA debut in 2019, being undefeated in Europe in his first nine fights. That earned him a contract with the UFC.
He actually suffered his first ever defeat in that debut, losing to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, with the judges deciding Saint-Denis hadn’t done enough to earn the victory.
Perhaps that gave him the determination to not let the judges make a decision against him again. Since then he’s gone 5-0 with two submission wins and two by TKO.
That has earned him 12th place in the lightweight rankings, but he could be about to go even higher.
Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis Prediction: God of War Can Be God Of Lightweights
The next few weeks will decide how the lightweight division will shakedown in the coming months, and the winner here can certainly be involved.
Our Poirier vs Saint-Denis prediction is that it’ll be the Frenchman who gets himself involved in the title race, whilst Poirier will be handed a back-to-back defeat for the first time in his career.
The younger man is available at -205 on the Moneyline with Poirier the +170 underdog. We’ll back Saint-Denis to win by submission at +150.
Only Michael Johnson, Gaethjie and McGregor have stopped Poirier in under 1.5 rounds. It’s certainly not an easy thing to do, but the fight to go under 1.5 rounds at +180 looks mighty tempting to us.
To wrap it all up we think that the submission will come early in the second round, giving us Saint-Denis to win by submission in the second round at +700.
Ryan Sidle is a sports journalist with nearly a decade in the industry. He's been interested in boxing since Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno and his MMA fandom was sparked by Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva.