Renato Moicano defeats Benoit Saint Denis by doctor stoppage at UFC Paris

A lightweight bout between tenth-ranked Renato Moicano and twelfth-ranked Benoit Saint Denis headlined Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Paris, France.  

Moicano entered the fight riding a three-fight winning streak.  He finished Jalin Turner via TKO in his last outing at UFC 300 in April.  Saint Denis was looking to rebound from a knockout loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 299 in March.

They exchanged leg kicks early.  Moicano inched forward and Saint Denis landed a right hand.  Moicano clinched and took Saint Denis down.  Saint Denis worked to create space with a butterfly guard but Moicano was able to take Saint Denis’ back during a scramble.  Saint Denis rolled to his back and Moicano mounted him.  He delivered elbows.  Moicano opened up a cut with a series of left hands.  

Midway through the round, Moicano delivered a hard elbow.  Saint Denis is bleeding around his right eye.  Saint Denis gave up his back and Moicano applied a body triangle.  Moicano hammered away with punches and elbows.  Saint Denis survived the round.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-8 for Moicano.  

Saint Denis’s corner told him to ‘wake up’ between rounds and reminded him that he’s fighting in front of a home crowd.  “Wake up!  Come on, wake up!”

Moicanao landed a jab to start the second frame.  Saint Denis connected with a left hand before going to the body.  Moicano looked for a takedown but Saint Denis defended the attempt.  Moicano took his time and looked to counter.  Moicano landed his jab on the damaged eye of Saint Denis.  Denis pressed forward and landed.  Moicano clinched and looked to get the fight to the ground.  Saint Denis shook off the attempt.  

Saint Denis pressed forward behind a combination and Moicano used to opportunity to clinch.  They quickly separated.  Saint Denis fired off a head kick that was blocked.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Saint Denis.  

Saint Denis’s left eye is badly swollen below the eye.  His right eye had a cut above it and was also badly swollen.  A doctor was called in to evaluate him and opted to stop the fight.  The doctor noted that Saint Denis could not see out of his right eye. 

With the TKO win, Moicano extended his winning streak to four consecutive fights.