Benoit Saint Denis by no means critically contemplating dropping out of his battle in opposition to Dustin Poirier at UFC 299, however he positively paid for that call.
Regardless of a valiant effort to get the win, the French light-weight finally suffered a brutal second-round knockout, which served as his second setback since becoming a member of the UFC roster. Saint Denis revealed afterward that his conditioning was zapped from a spherical of antibiotics he took to battle an an infection that would’ve cancelled his battle.
Because it seems, Saint Denis truly had a staph an infection on his brow that was identified two days earlier than he was scheduled to depart for Miami to compete at UFC 299.
“The final sparring session, I had this ugly stuff on my brow,” Saint Denis stated Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “It was two days earlier than leaving France, final Friday was the final sparring session. I had been leaving Saturday. Out of respect for everyone, you need to take remedy if you discover one thing like that.
“I referred to as the physician and we tried to determine a course of to attempt to be in the perfect form doable and to make the battle occur. To be in battle form that’s ok to be respectable to your opponent, to present the individuals the battle they need to see as a result of you’re the co-main occasion of such an enormous battle.”
Saint Denis additionally struggled together with his weight minimize within the remaining days main as much as the battle and that solely additional exacerbated the problems he confronted from the spherical of antibiotics coursing by his physique.
“I used to be drained the entire week with the staph an infection,” Saint Denis stated. “Possibly that is additionally my fault. I got here in a bit too heavy. With the remedy I took, the burden was not happening as [easily] and I had two extra kilograms to chop earlier than the burden minimize, and it was too tough. I paid the day after. I had no reflexes. I used to be out of shape.”
After first arriving in Miami, Saint Denis sat down together with his staff to debate whether or not or not he ought to truly compete, but it surely didn’t take him lengthy to understand the chance was well worth the potential reward.
“Tuesday, we had the controversy … it didn’t take a very long time to persuade myself to make it occur anyway,” Saint Denis stated. “With a staph an infection, typically in 5 days you’re getting in higher form. Typically in a single week, typically in eight days. The issue was with the stress and the burden minimize, the an infection, my physique didn’t handle to do each issues — didn’t handle to chop the burden being on a really strict weight loss program and on the similar time deal with the an infection.
“Possibly it might have been one thing that labored. Possibly if I had much less kilograms to lose, which I’ll work on for the subsequent battle, perhaps I’d have been in superb situation and it might not have affected me this manner and I’d have been prepared to present my all. Even given these situations, it’s tough when you may have an enormous alternative like that to say no.”
Even together with his physique working in opposition to him, Saint Denis nonetheless got here storming out of the gate and he had his moments within the battle with Poirier.
Sadly, Saint Denis says he solely had about 5 minutes to present, and he was already operating on fumes by the point the second spherical began.
“I used to be very sluggish,” Saint Denis stated. “My kicks had been sloppy as hell. You’ll be able to see my first kick at two minutes initially of the battle, it was a [body] kick, it was horrible. In my battle with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos within the third spherical, I used to be in higher form than the primary spherical in opposition to Poirier. It was my fault. We’re professionals. We try our greatest to be the perfect form doable.
“I gained the primary spherical however I’m the one in despair, as a result of I do know it’s over. I couldn’t take the alternatives there.”
Saint Denis guarantees that earlier than he contracted the staph an infection, he was greater than able to face Poirier within the greatest alternative of his profession. It was solely after he arrived in Miami that he started to understand his dream battle was slowly reworking right into a residing nightmare.
“The worst battle week,” Saint Denis stated. “I had very unhealthy information for my well being. I simply couldn’t cancel. It could actually occur to everyone to be sick throughout battle week. Now we have two legs and two arms, we’re human, we aren’t robots. I hoped with the remedy that I took for my staph an infection, I hoped that after 5 days of taking antibiotics, I’d be in good well being, at the very least 90 p.c and be able to have this enormous alternative and to have the ability to give him a great battle additionally. As a result of out of respect for him. I’d like to have a bit extra vitality to present him greater than 5 minutes.”
Saint Denis isn’t consumed with remorse as a result of loss, as a result of he made the selection to step into the cage that night time and go to warfare with Poirier even when he wasn’t near full well being.
All he can hope now’s that he’ll finally earn the prospect to avenge that loss someplace down the street as he continues his pursuit of changing into a UFC champion.
“I must get my ticket again to such a possibility once more,” Saint Denis stated. “After all, even in good well being, perhaps I’d have gotten knocked out by Poirier. He’s an amazing fighter, a tremendous fighter. I hope I’ll work my manner again to having this type of alternative and to indicate that this present day it was not the ‘God of Conflict’ in there.
“I offers you my greatest once more as quickly as doable. I’ll make the changes to attempt to be at my greatest within the battle, as a result of a battle in opposition to a man like this, you can’t be diminished.”
