Benoit Saint Denis is too hittable for Din Thomas’ liking.
Lightweights Saint Denis (17-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) throw down in Saturday’s UFC 329 (Paramount+) co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Advertisement
“The God of War” has never gone the distance in any of his professional wins, but in two out of his three losses, he suffered significant damage at the hands of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Renato Moicano – and that concerns Thomas.
“That’s going to be his biggest problem against Paddy: Paddy absorbs punches better,” Thomas told Laura Sanko on One on One. “I think Benoit Saint Denis’ defense is a little too suspect, and I think Paddy’s going to hit him more often. Paddy’s going to get hit a lot, too, but the difference is, when Paddy gets hit, Paddy has that Charles Oliveira ‘It’ factor in terms of you can get hit and then you just fall to your back and recover – and Paddy can do that.
“I think Paddy’s jiu-jitsu is good enough on his back to where even knocked down, he’s instinctively making good decisions and tying him up and threatening enough to where he’s not eating too many punches, as long as it doesn’t get stopped.”
Pimblett is a slight underdog, but Thomas is picking him to win – even though he admits his reasoning could be skewed.
Advertisement
“I’m going with Paddy,” Thomas said. “I’ve not picked Benoit Saint Denis in his like last four fights – which he’s won them all. I’ve picked the other guy, and I’m still going to pick against him in this fight. I still think Paddy’s going to win. … I fully believe MMA is better when Paddy is winning. He’s got star-like qualities, he’s good for MMA, he’s very charismatic, he’s easily watched.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst: Benoit Saint Denis’ defense ‘a little too suspect’
