UFC Paris went down this past weekend (Sat., Sept. 28, 2024) inside Accor Arena in Paris, France, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Brendan Allen, who saw his seven-fight win streak go up in smoke thanks to Nassourdine Imavov (recap here).
And Jung Da Woon, who suffered his fourth straight loss after coming up short against Oumar Sy. But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into the event, “God of War” was looking to get back into the win column to erase the stench of his knockout loss at the hands of former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Lightweight champion, Dustin Poirier, at UFC 299 earlier in the year (see it again here). It was an especially tough defeat because Saint Denis was very successful against “The Diamond” in the first round before things took a turn for the worse.
Nevertheless, in his fight against Moicano, he never really got going. That’s because his Brazilian foe came out and executed his gameplan perfectly, taking him down early into the fight, which allowed him to really lay the ground-and-pound on thick. Indeed, Moicano landed several big shots and razor-sharp elbows that busted up Saint Denis’ face so bad:
How it started vs. How it ended pic.twitter.com/UQz5HEO4QU
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) September 28, 2024
Saint Denis eventually got up, however, his eyes were just about closed and his face was a bloody mess.
He came out for round two, but he didn’t look composed. In fact, he looked visibly hurt and his strikes had no snap to them. Moicano, meanwhile, was loose and confident, finding his range on the majority of his shots, which only added to the punishment to the Frenchman’s face. And even though he avoided getting taken down in round two, he still took a lot of damage, eventually forcing the ringside doctor’s to stop the fight.
It’s a tough stretch for “God of War,” who had previously racked up five straight wins under the UFC banner and was on his way to cracking the Top 10. Now, the back-to-back losses will hurt his stock and move him further down the Top 15.
After the loss, “God of War” gave his thoughts on the setback.
“Not my day, this sport is hard but amazing,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you all for your unwavering support. Proud to represent France in the Octagon at home, Respect to my opponent for facing me at home, so congratulations to Renato Moicano. God puts challenges in our path and this one is nothing compared to what I have experienced.”
As far as what could be next for Saint Denis, perhaps a showdown against Jalin Turner is in order. Interestingly enough. “The Tarantula’s” last loss also came against Moicano at UFC 300 (watch it), so they have that in common. It may not be the bigger fight Saint Denis was looking forward to, but he will have to start from scratch, so to speak, for his comeback trail.
For complete UFC Paris results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.