The only miss on the scale at Friday’s UFC 322 weigh-in was Beneil Dariush, who came in at 1.2 pounds for his lightweight bout with Benoit Saint-Denis.
Whether the failed weight cut would have any effect on the fight itself remained to be seen. Dariush was looking to build on a win over Renato Moicano, while BSD had won his last two fights.
Dariush opened the fight with a leg kick, fueled by a punch, but moments later the fight was over. Beneil would protest, but Benoit Saint-Denis had him beaten up and dropped with one punch. Dariush lay face down, protest or not. Dariush’s fast start clearly backfired, as Saint-Denis landed a left hand over the ear in a clinch that followed a second leg kick from Dariush that BSD himself had briefly taken off his feet.
A whirlwind of chaos that ended in just sixteen seconds, a new lightweight knockout record. A statement perhaps from Saint-Denis, and certainly a tactical error from Dariush, who came out of the gate just a little too hot.
After the battle, BSD, a former soldier himself, recognized military veterans as part of Veterans Week. “I couldn’t be happier and more privileged to be fighting here at Madison Square Garden,” he added, before saying he had both the BMF and lightweight titles in mind.
Official result: Benoit Saint-Denis defeated. Beneil Dariush by knockout, round 1, 0:16
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