UFC featherweight Renato Moicano looked to continue his rise up the rankings, but he’d have to do it against the very dangerous Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris on Saturday.
Moicano (19-5-1) held an impressive 4-fight win streak with victories over Brad Riddell, Drew Dober, Jalin Turner and Cristian Guzman. One of the more popular fighters on the roster ‘Money’ Moicano went into enemy territory looking for that fifth consecutive win.
Saint Denis (13-2) took the lightweight division by storm rattling off five straight wins until he ran into Dustin Poirier at UFC 299 in March. Wins over Ismael Bonfim, Thiago Moises and Matt Frevola has BSD poised to bounce back from the loss to ‘The Diamond.’
Within 30 seconds, Renato Moicano had stepped inside and earned the first takedown of the fight, neutralizing the power of BSD. Moicano wound up in half guard, while Saint-Denis relied on a butterfly guard, eventually forcing Moicano back and threatening with upkicks. Moicano re-engaged, however, taking the back and getting a body lock in place. Moicano used that to move to mount, firing a couple of nasty elbows. Right hands followed, and BSD could just roll and twist, little hope of escape. He signaled a thumbs up, but was anything but okay. Saint-Denis was soon flat on his back, Moucano still in mount, two minutes on the clock. BSD was bloodied, battered, but somehow hanging on. And, rather impressively, he regained full guard.
After trying to scramble out, however, Saint-Denis gave up his back. Moicano jumped on that but didn’t have the finish. However, he wound up back in half-guard on top of a blooded BSD with a minute left on the clock. The fact that he survived the round was perhaps the most impressive thing about BSD’s opening round; Moicano, meanwhile, had lived up to his “money” nickname.
Between rounds, Saint-Denis’ corner implored him to “wake up.” The pair went back-and-forth on the feet early in the second, Saint-Denis still wearing the damage inflicted in round one. Despite that, Saint-Denis was able to get some offensive in throughout the second, utilizing his boxing. Moicano kept pace, mixing in kicks, and looking the fresher of the two fighters. Both of the French fighter’s eyes had swollen, however, with the doctor being brought in to check on BSD before the start of round three. The doctor held up fingers, with Saint-Denis getting too many questions wrong, specifically with his right eye. That led to ref Marc Goddard waving off the fight, bringing about a rather muted end to UFC Paris and its main event.
Official Result: Renato Moicano def. Benoit Saint-Denis by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2, 5:00
