{"id":364519,"date":"2026-07-11T08:54:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=364519"},"modified":"2026-07-11T08:54:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:24:50","slug":"what-happened-in-benoit-saint-denis-ufc-debut-left-legendary-referee-screaming-on-the-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/what-happened-in-benoit-saint-denis-ufc-debut-left-legendary-referee-screaming-on-the-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened in Benoit Saint-Denis’ UFC debut left legendary referee ‘screaming on the TV’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

UFC 329 star Benoit Saint-Denis began his Octagon profession in brutal fashion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The French star has an enormous opportunity ahead of him within the co-main event of Conor McGregor\u2019s comeback card this Saturday at International Fight Week.<\/p>\n

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Saint-Denis will fight Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, as they appear to stake their claims to a shot at latest champion Justin Gaethje.<\/p>\n

\u2018God of War\u2019 has quickly risen through the lightweight ranks with numerous impressive results, but his time within the UFC began disastrously in a special division.<\/p>\n

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Benoit Saint-Denis is on a charge at lightweight \ud83d\udd25<\/h3>\n

Are you convinced that ‘God of War’ is a future champion?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Benoit<\/div>
Benoit Saint-Denis has won 4 of his last five fights. Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Benoit Saint-Denis\u2019 first UFC fight featured probably the most controversial refereeing performances of all time<\/h2>\n

Following an unbeaten begin to his MMA profession and a few strong performances in Brave CF, Saint-Denis received a short-notice call-up to make his UFC debut.<\/p>\n

That got here up at welterweight in October 2021, marking the Frenchman\u2019s second ever fight at 170 kilos. He was clearly outsized by his UFC 267 opponent, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, who put a devastating beatdown on Saint-Denis across three rounds in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

The fight is remembered for its controversial refereeing performance, after \u2018God of War\u2019 was allowed to proceed despite clearly sustaining an excessive amount of damage through the fight and being unable to defend himself.<\/p>\n

The referee for Saint-Denis\u2019 debut was fired mid-event after the incident, and that was a call evidently supported by the legendary John McCarthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be going nuts. I used to be standing up in front of my TV, screaming at my TV,\u201d the veteran official said during an episode of\u00a0Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on Sirius XM.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, if he had just let the fight go on, it\u2019s incorrect but it surely\u2019s comprehensible and it\u2019s comprehensible based upon there\u2019s pressure there, he\u2019s attempting to let the fight play out and he\u2019s taking a look at it considering he\u2019s doing a superb job of letting this guy proceed on, although he doesn\u2019t realize he\u2019s ruining this guy\u2019s profession. The loss is just not going to destroy his profession, the beatdown and the damage will. In order that was one element.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, (there was) the attention poke,\u201d McCarthy continued. \u201cThe best way he handled it was so horrendous and so incorrect for the fighter, and the fighter that had been beat down. So that you\u2019re looking and also you go, \u2018Come on, you\u2019ve got to be kidding me.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cYou then take a take a look at the knee, the knee didn’t hit the groin. Possibly the shin did, and okay that\u2019s effective, but to take a degree for it? No, the knee was placed properly and so you only checked out the whole lot he was doing, he was lost, he was in over his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone thinks it\u2019s easy. It\u2019s not. It takes time to work out tips on how to get these items and do them right and be good at them so you only flow with the way you\u2019re doing it and at that moment. He wasn\u2019t ready for that style of fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo by Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saint-Denis soon bounced back from that result when he was given a chance to impress in his natural weight class.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s currently on a four-fight winning streak that features a 16-second knockout of Beneil Dariush and a submission of the in-form Mauricio Ruffy.<\/p>\n

The French star is now the No. 5-ranked lightweight contender, a spot he’ll hope to solidify at Pimblett\u2019s expense this Saturday.<\/p>\n

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Follow us on Google Discover UFC 329 star Benoit Saint-Denis began his Octagon profession in brutal fashion. The French star has an enormous opportunity ahead of him within the co-main event of Conor McGregor\u2019s comeback card this Saturday at International Fight Week. Saint-Denis will fight Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, as they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":364520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21048],"tags":[8678,1806,11404,753,7264,8108,8679,23458,3928],"class_list":["post-364519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma","tag-benoit","tag-debut","tag-happened","tag-left","tag-legendary","tag-referee","tag-saintdenis","tag-screaming","tag-ufc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t