Benoit Saint-Denis extended his win streak to four earlier tonight at UFC 325 by stopping Dan Hooker in less than two rounds.
The fight went exactly as Hooker expected. Saint-Denis wanted to bring ‘The Hangman’ to the ground, where the former thrives. In the opening round, ‘God of War’ suffered some early setbacks as Dan Hooker landed several clean body shots, and from the viewer’s perspective it felt like Hooker had found his rhythm and was going to land even bigger.
However, in the later seconds of the first frame, the Frenchman changed the momentum by scoring a takedown and bloodying Hooker.
The second round was similar after Hooker made a mistake by trying to go for a takedown himself, to which Saint-Denis responded by going straight into full mount. After gaining full control, Saint-Denis gave it his all to force Hooker’s tap, but ‘The Hangman’ would not surrender.
Just when it felt like Hooker would make it into the second round, ‘God of War’ started breaking Hooker open with non-stop ground-and-pound from top position. While the 35-year-old was in hiding, he had no answer to BSD’s strikes, and referee Herb Dean, who had seen enough, stopped the bout at 4:45 of round 2 and declared Benoit Saint-Denis the winner by TKO.
After racking up four straight finishes, Benoit Saint-Denis has his crosshair at the BMF title and lightweight championship and is also eyeing a fight against Arman Tsarukyan.
The MMA world is reacting to Benoit Saint-Denis’ win over Dan Hooker at UFC 325
Thiago Moisés posted on X:
“Saint Denis looks like a zombie #UFC325”
Damon Martin wrote:
“Benoit Saint Denis with the ground and pound finish over Dan Hooker. Saint Denis had to survive some adversity, but he put it on Hooker in that second round.”
Gilbert Burns wrote:
“Great performance from BSD! #UFC325”
Arie Helwani wrote:
“It has to be said that they lasted about 10 seconds too long. Another great win for BSD.”
Nassourdine Imavov wrote:
“Let’s go @BenoitSt_Denis ✊”
Meanwhile, heel-happy Dillon Danis has a dig at Dan Hooker following his UFC 325 loss:
“Dan Hooker is such a waste of roster space. He sucks. Someone put an end to this humiliation ritual.”
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