Last night the Accor Arena in Paris witnessed some of the most electrifying performances in recent times. The UFC Paris fight card turned out to be as everyone expected, even though there weren’t many big names on the card. However, hours later, the fight card headliner Renato Moicano was seemingly displeased for not being rewarded a fight bonus.
The headliner fight was a gruesome blood bath between Renato Moicano and Benoit Saint-Denis where the former brutally thrashed the latter. After round two, the Doctor had to eventually step in to call the fight off and hand Moicano the victory. Interestingly, when the ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses were announced, the Brazilian had quite a reaction. As such, he even raised questions about it on X.
So beating a France in Paris main event with a 10-8 first round doesn’t get you a bonus #ufc what do you guys think?!
Renato Moicano via X (@moicanoufc)
The four Performances of the Night awardees were Morgan Charriere, Chris Duncan, Bryan Battle, and Fares Ziam. Duncan began the fight card with a frightening submission win over his Belgian opponent Bolaji Oki. Interestingly, this fight even drew several criticisms against the referee officiating the bout.
Following that, the rest of the recipients fought in the main card headlined by Moicano and Saint-Denis. The second recipient was Fares Ziam for his highly buzzed knee KO against Matt Frevola. Morgan Charriere, another home favorite, electrified the crowd with a big left-hook knockout against his Brazilian opponent Gabriel Miranda.
🤔
— Renato Moicano UFC (@moicanoufc) September 29, 2024
So beating a France in Paris main event with a 10-8 first round doesn’t get you a bonus #ufc what do you guys think ?! https://t.co/ghTeSp1VF4
— Renato Moicano UFC (@moicanoufc) September 29, 2024
Bryan Battle received the last POTN award after defeating a Frenchman via TKO. Interestingly, after that win, he also made some profane comments against the French during the Octagon interview. Amidst Renato Moicano’s disappointing reaction to not receiving the bonus, overall the fight card was quite electrifying.
After dominantly defeating Benoit Saint-Denis, Renato Moicano opens up the possibility of training together
28-year-old, Benoit Saint-Denis is a rising prospect in the UFC. He made his promotional debut back in 2021. Although Saint-Denis lost his debut fight, he jumped right back up with five consecutive victories in around two years. The upward slope in his career graph was eventually stopped by Dustin Poirier at UFC 299. On the other hand, Moicano is a UFC veteran with a decade-long experience in the promotion.
Even though the Frenchman asserted confidence in his skillset ahead of the fight, he failed against Moicano. During the post-fight press conference, Money Moicano delved into various intriguing topics. In that conversation, the Brazilian also expressed his wish to train with Saint-Denis someday.
I really respect Benoit Saint-Denis what he did on this division. I think he’s very strong. I think he’s young but I think he needs to work on his game because usually like what makes him dangerous is what make him vulnerable… So, I invite Benoit Saint-Danis to come to our gym to train with us and I can guarantee he’s going to be another fighter…
Renato Moicano via UFC Paris: Post-Fight Press Conference
Renato Moicano invites Benoit Saint Denis to train with him at ATT after #UFCParis. 👏
“He needs to work on his game. What makes him dangerous is what makes him vulnerable.” pic.twitter.com/6OjIUGKQIz
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) September 29, 2024
Renato Moicano also believes that Saint-Denis must get out of his comfort zone to further flourish in the division. Now, it will be interesting to see if the Frenchman accepts this invitation or not. Meanwhile, Moicano is currently eyeing to face one of the top-ranked lightweights next.
