Benoit Saint Denis vs. Renato Moicano squared off in a Lightweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Sept. 28, 2024) at UFC Paris inside Accor Arena from Paris, France. In a dominant win, Moicano secured the second round stoppage.
To the surprise of nobody, Saint Denis opened the fight by letting his left kick fly. One landed, but a well-prepared Moicano passed it by and used the angle to score a takedown. Saint Denis used his butterfly guard to create space, but when he moved to stand, Moicano jumped onto his back!
Moicano locked in a body triangle and started landing brutal elbows. He was getting flattened out and battered by ground strikes, but Saint Denis eventually recovered half guard. His face was split open in the process, and there was still two minutes left in the round. For the second time, Saint Denis gave up his back and ended up in terrible position when he tried to stand.
More nasty punches and elbows landed for the Brazilian, securing a likely 10-8 first round. Saint Denis’ face was seriously destroyed after just five minutes!
Saint Denis could not afford to be taken down again, but he also couldn’t really see out of his swollen eyes. All the same, he landed a couple nice left hands. Moicano looked really comfortable and countered with a cross of his own. The Brazilian got his jab going too, sticking and moving well. When Saint Denis landed a good left, Moicano committed hard to a takedown and didn’t get it — the first real sign of life from the Frenchman. He still lost the round, but at least Saint Denis had five minutes to recover from that atrocious start … or so we thought.
Between rounds, the cage side doctor came in and confirmed that Saint Denis could not see out of his right eye, which was fully swollen shut and bleeding from two separate cuts. The doctor was forced to intervene, calling a stop to the contest and awarding Moicano the stoppage win.
It’s unfortunate that Saint Denis survived the first only to eventually get stopped from the damage anyway, but what a performance from Renato Moicano! The Brazilian capitalized perfectly on Saint Denis’ kicking habits and then brutalized him, doing enough damage to draw a stoppage despite his ultra tough foe.
Give that man his money!
Result: Moicano defeats Saint Denis via second-round doctor stoppage
For complete UFC Paris: “Saint Denis vs. Moicano” results and play-by-play, click HERE!