Islam Makhachev throws shade at Mauricio Ruffy for disappointing UFC Paris performance

Islam Makhachev slams Mauricio Ruffy following UFC Paris performance

After suffering back-to-back defeats to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, Saint-Denis was given a fight against the debuting Kyle Prepolec just a few months ago at UFC 315, and returned to the win column.

And because of his recent losses, the French fighter came into his fight against the popular Fighting Nerd as the underdog.

Despite that, ‘God Of War’ started the fight extremely fast and caused issues for Ruffy from the opening bell.

With the Brazilian having not had to showcase his wrestling or grappling yet so far in his UFC tenure, Saint-Denis opted to utilise his wrestling in the opening round and managed to take Ruffy down and control on the ground.

Although he wasn’t able to find the finish in round one, he realized his dominance in that area of the fight and again in round two, opted to utilise his wrestling.

And then just over two minutes into the second round, Saint-Denis took the back of Ruffy and subsequently locked in a rear-naked choke to pick up the surprise win.

Reacting to the fight was former UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, who Ruffy once called out for a future title fight.

“Win or lose, Ruffy has zero grappling,” Makhachev said after the first round.

“Train more, speak less, that’s the key to success,” the former champion stated following the fight.

What is next for Benoit Saint-Denis?

Despite scoring back-to-back wins and finishing one of the most popular current contenders in the sport, it would be surprising if Saint-Denis’ next fight came against a top 10 opponent.

Someone who is riding a three fight win streak and currently occupying rank 14 in the division is Grant Dawson, and a fight between those two lightweight contenders next could make a lot of sense.