PARIS – Benoit Saint-Denis is confident he will control the fight against Gabriel Miranda.
Saint-Denis (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) faces newcomer Miranda (16-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 209 at Accor Arena in Paris. The card streams on ESPN+.
Although eight of Saint-Denis’ nine professional wins have come by submission, he doesn’t want to be labeled as a ground fighter. The Frenchman thinks he has the ability to compete wherever the fight ends up.
“I’m a complete MMA fighter,” Saint-Denis told reporters at Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 209 media day. “It will take place where I want it to take place because it’s the way I fight. I’m a pressure fighter, so we’ll see what he can do against that. Maybe he will weather the storm, maybe not – so we’ll see.”
After dropping his octagon debut to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at UFC 267 in October 2021, Saint-Denis made his lightweight debut against Nikolas Stolze in June and had a standout showing when he submitted him in Round 2.
Although things didn’t go his way against dos Santos, Saint-Denis aspires to reach that level of competition again with a win over Miranda.
“I think it’s going to be a fight with a lot of engagement because we have similarities in some stuff,” Saint-Denis said. “But I’m going to do my job and do everything I can to extend my winning streak and to get closer to a callout with the top 15.
“The UFC gave me a top-15 (opponent) right away in the welterweight division, so there was an 8-kilogram difference between me and Elizeu. Now it won’t happen again. I’m in my weight class, so I’m going to do what I can to climb up the rankings and just to become something great in the lightweight division.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
