#BenoitSaintDenis #UFC #MMA
Benoît Saint Denis was born in Nîmes, on December 18, 1995 as the eldest of five brothers. His father was a French Army officer practising judo at a good level, and his mother was a teacher. Saint Denis practised judo in France and Germany from the age of 8 to 16 and earned a black belt. He also played football and rugby union in his youth.
Prior to his MMA career, Saint Denis was a member of the 1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, a unit of the French Army Special Forces Command. He served as a French Special Air Service (SAS) operator in Mali during the war and more generally in West Africa, fighting terrorist groups. He was awarded the Medal of the Nation's gratitude and the Combatant's cross in September 2017. He left the army after five years of service in March 2019.
In September 2018, Saint Denis stood out among thirty fighters during a test organized by Daniel Woirin, a French coach renowned for having won three belts at UFC and two at Strikeforce with MMA champions Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida. Saint Denis, ending his contract with the army, decided to embark on a career as a professional MMA fighter early 2019. He gave himself two years to break through to the highest level in MMA. Two years was the time he had with his savings to train full time and get signed by the UFC.
He joined the Bulgarian Top Team of French manager Giom Peltier and won six fights in eleven months. Then the pace of the fights slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Daniel Woirin, he stayed undefeated and went eight wins by finish in middleweight, welterweight and super lightweight divisions, half of them at the Brave Combat Federation, where he ended up as the #1 Title contenter of the super lightweight division at the time he accepted to join the UFC.
Benoît Saint Denis (born 18 December 1995) is a French professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).