Benoit Saint-Denis has revealed that he turned down the chance to compete on the UFC White House card.
‘God of War’ last fought contained in the UFC Octagon at the start of the 12 months when he took on Dan Hooker at UFC 325.
The Frenchman went on to attain a particularly impressive win, dominating Hooker for 2 rounds before submitting him at the top of the second round.
And now back within the lightweight title conversation, Benoit Saint-Denis turned down the chance to fight on the upcoming historic UFC White House event.
Saint-Denis turned down fight against Michael Chandler
After scoring 4 impressive wins in a row since his loss to Renato Moicano, the 30-year-old has climbed back into the highest five of the division.
And despite being on the verge of a title shot, he was offered a fight against Michael Chandler on the June 14 event but he decided to show it down.
‘Iron’ Mike is currently ranked number 13 within the division and he is ready to tackle Mauricio Ruffy on the cardboard.
Based on the reports, his reason for turning down the fight is because he wants a fight against someone higher up within the rankings as a substitute.
“Turning down a free win, lol,” one fan commented on the news.
“Smart move, to be honest, Chandler not gonna get him where he must be,” one other fan said.
“I mean, yeah, he’s top 5 now. I believe his next guy must be Max,” one other fan suggested.
Chandler has lost his last three fights in a row, along with his last win having come against Tony Ferguson in 2022.
“The actual fact Chandler was even offered that is insane. After his last win 4 years ago he lost to a top 5 opponent, on the other hand, then a man outside the highest 5, now he’s alleged to be fighting one other guy in the highest 5? STOP REWARDING LOSES,” said one other fan.
“As he should. Chandler hasn’t fought up the rankings since he debuted. He was lucky to get that Ruffy fight,” a fifth fan said.
As an alternative, Saint-Denis is returning to motion this coming July, potentially on the International Fight Week card, and he’s targeting Max Holloway or Charles Oliveira.