by SAYAN NAG
Photo credit Getty/UFC
Benoit St. Denis believes Justin Gaethje is one of the only fighters in the UFC who is durable enough to go toe-to-toe with him.
St. Denis pulled off his fifth consecutive stoppage win with a brutal first-round KO over lightweight veteran Matt Frevola at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. While St. Denis put all lightweights elites on notice in his post-fight interview, Justin Gaethje, who was present cageside, was shown on a split screen as “God of War” called him out.
St. Denis recently shared on “The MMA Hour” that Gaethje remains his primary focus, as he expects that a clash against “The Highlight” would turn out to be quite memorable.
“It is a fight I want to have,” St. Denis said. “It’s at the top of the list, of course. It’s not his fault, but I do believe they are going to make [Islam] Makhachev against [Charles] Oliveira. Gaethje is a warrior, he likes activity, but he will have to fight again and big dates are coming next year, and he has already (defeated) Dustin Poirier, he has been defeating a lot of tough guys, and I do believe this is a fight for the BMF [title] and he has the chin to make it a war. Because you can have tough guys, but if they don’t have the chin, with me, it’s not going to make it.
“I do believe we both have a chin that we can crack a couple of times, and if people want a violent fight and fight that could be history, I think that’s the fight to make. I do believe we can have a fight that is going to be crazy. Crazy scrambles, crazy punching exchanges. I have a lot of respect for him, but I do believe he will have to fight before getting the title because of this Islam Makhachev and Oliveira stuff, and Islam doesn’t fight this much so he will have to wait a lot. If he wants a war, anywhere, I’m for it.”
