Benoit Saint Denis made it through two rounds with Renato Moicano but the accumulated affect of a brutal opening five-minute beatdown prevented him from continuing.
The UFC Fight Night 243 main event was stopped Saturday after Saint Denis (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was deemed unable to see by the cageside physician following Round 2 in the lightweight bout. As a result, Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) was named victor by TKO at Accor Arena in Paris (via X):
This fight has ended due to doctor's stoppage.@MoicanoUFC gets his arm raised at #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/nIvM83v0sh
— UFC (@ufc) September 28, 2024
Just 23 seconds into the fight, Moicano took down Saint Denis. One minute later, he had Saint Denis’ back and a body triangle locked. Eventually, he shifted to mount where he blasted Saint Denis with hard elbows, splitting him open on multiple parts of his face.
Saint Denis hung tough and did just enough to avoid a stoppage, but between rounds there was no hiding the damage he sustained. The swelling was bad, but not as bad as it was five minutes later after Saint Denis and Moicano fought a lackadaisical second round.
Between Round 2 and 3, the cageside physician didn’t let crowd pressure effect the outcome of his vision exam on Saint Denis. He deemed the French fighter unable to continue and referee Marc Goddard waved off the bout.
With the victory, Moicano continues to pocket “big checks” – just as he likes. The win was his fourth in a row and sixth in his most recent seven outings. He called out Paddy Pimblett and Dan Hooker, as well (via X):
🗣️ "Paddy Pimblett, easy money! Dan Hooker, easy money!"@MoicanoUFC is hyped up after his #UFCParis win 😂 pic.twitter.com/NLQCBNdP7C
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 28, 2024
For Saint Denis, the loss was his second in a row. In March, Saint Denis was knocked out by Dustin Poirier in a wild brawl at UFC 299.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 243 results include:
- Renato Moicano def. Benoit Saint Denis via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Brendan Allen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- William Gomis def. Joanderson Brito via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bryan Battle def. Kevin Jousset via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:47
- Morgan Charriere def. Gabriel Miranda via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:27
- Fares Ziam def. Matt Frevola via knockout (knee) – Round 3, 2:59
- Ion Cutelaba def. Ivan Erslan via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Oumar Sy def. Da Woon Jung via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ludovit Klein def. Roosevelt Roberts via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Taylor Lapilus def. Vince Morales via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ailin Perez def. Darya Zheleznyakova via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:52
- Daniel Barez def. Victor Altamirano via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Nora Cornolle via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Chris Duncan def. Bolaji Oki via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:34
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 243.
