French President Emmanuel Macron sends praise to Benoit Saint-Denis for fighting through infection at UFC 299 despite KO loss

Benoit Saint-Denis' statement of fighting through an infection gets a response from the French President Emmanuel Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron sends praise to Benoit Saint-Denis for fighting through infection at UFC 299 despite KO loss

French President Emmanuel Macron responds to Benoit Saint-Denis' post-fight statement (via imago)

Benoit Saint-Denis faced Dustin Poirier at UFC 299. It was a steep step up in competition for the Frenchman, considering he only entered the lightweight rankings in his last fight. Despite this fact, Saint-Denis entered UFC 299 as the favorite. But Poirier knocked him out in the second round to clinch the victory. Later, Saint-Denis disclosed he fought with an infection which impeded his performance. French President Emmanuel Macron commented on the performance of ‘God of War.’

In a recent Instagram post, Benoit Saint-Denis revealed his struggles fighting an infection. As such, this received a response from the French President. Emmanuel Macron appreciated Saint-Denis and acknowledged the special forces service of Saint-Denis. Here is what he said:

Proud. You show the world that French MMA is great. In addition to being a hero of our special forces, there is no doubt: you will one day be a huge champion!
Emmanuel Macron (via Instagram)
YouTube video

The French President has shown his support to Benoit Saint-Denis on multiple occasions. Once, he posed for a picture holding a T-shirt with a graphic that read the UFC fighter’s name. As such, Saint-Denis also invited Emmanuel Macron to UFC 299. But he didn’t make it to the event. However, Macron praised his countryman, who suffered a brutal loss.

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Benoit Saint-Denis put on a decent performance despite losing to Dustin Poirier. The fight lasted a little over seven minutes, and ‘God of War’ dominated the fight on the ground. However, a few powerful punches in standup from Poirier knocked him out. As such, he lost a crucial opportunity to fast-track his career to UFC gold. Nevertheless, he wasn’t discouraged and promised to come back stronger.

What did Benoit-Saint Denis say about his infection?

Soon after his loss, Benoit Saint-Denis revealed struggling with an infection while going through fight camp for UFC 299. Presumably, the infection was speculated to be Staph since the Frenchman’s face had the infection wound visible. Although it jeopardized the fight, Saint-Denis pushed through with the help of antibiotics and avoided the fight’s cancellation.

Benoit Saint-Denis reveals fighting through an infection at UFC 299 against Dustin Poirier
Benoit Saint-Denis reveals fighting through an infection at UFC 299 against Dustin Poirier (via BVM/Reddit)

However, Benoit Saint-Denis stated that using antibiotics affected his fight night performance. He said he couldn’t fully express himself, and his body didn’t react well like his previous fights. So, he apologized to the fans and vowed to come back stronger. Further, the French fighter thanked all his supporters and fans. Read what he said below in a translation from French to English.

Despite suffering from infection, ‘God of War’ put on a show at UFC 299 and even won the first round of the fight. This fight also earned the ‘Fight of the Night’ award. As such, many fight fans acknowledged Benoit Saint-Denis’ statement and wished him the best in the future. Considering the Frenchman is just 28 years old, he has his prime years ahead of him and can put up a title run soon.

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