Benoit Saint-Denis reveals the lightweight contender he wanted to fight at UFC Paris

Benoit Saint-Denis is taking on Mauricio Ruffy at UFC Paris, but that isn’t who he wanted to fight.

Saint-Denis is fighting back at home in France against a very tough opponent in Ruffy. However, if Saint-Denis had his way, he would be fighting Mateusz Gamrot on Saturday instead of Ruffy.

“I would have loved to fight Mateusz Gamrot. It’s a huge fight, and maybe we will face each other one day,” Saint-Denis said at UFC Paris media day. “We tried to make this fight happen. I have to do my job on Saturday, and we’ll see what the future gives us.”

Saint-Denis and Gamrot have taken shots at each other in the past, so it isn’t a surprise that the Frenchman called him out. Back at UFC 315 earlier this year, Gamrot accused Saint-Denis of turning him down. After the comment, Saint-Denis took aim at Gamrot, saying that wasn’t the case.

So, perhaps if Saint-Denis gets past Ruffy on Saturday at UFC Paris, the fight with Gamrot can finally happen.

Benoit Saint-Denis admits he felt too much pressure fighting in Paris

Benoit Saint-Denis’ last loss was at UFC Paris against Renato Moicano.

It was a tough defeat, and Saint-Denis says he let the pressure get to him fighting at home, which won’t be the case this time around.

“There was a lot of pressure, and I think it takes time to get accustomed to all this pressure,” Saint-Denis said about fighting in Paris. “Today I’ve relieved that, and I’d like to find the 2019 version of Benoit again, who started MMA, and what we rediscovered with Nico, with all the improvements we’ve done, which is a warrior who wants to fight as much as possible and win as much as possible regardless of opponent.”

Saint-Denis expects to be much calmer and patient, which will lead to a better performance against Ruffy at UFC Paris on Saturday.