PORTRAIT – Former special forces operator, Benoît Saint Denis stopped his military career to launch into professional MMA. With the same goal: to be the best warrior. This Sunday, he will challenge the legend Dustin Poirier.
When he was little, Benoît Saint Denis dreamed while reading stories about knights. He wanted to become one of them; to be an elite fighter in the service of the weakest. This son of a soldier joined the Army Special Forces at a very young age, in the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, in Bayonne. For five years, he trained in all contemporary combat techniques and fought with weapons in hand against terrorism in the Sahel.
This war was not enough for him. Benoît was hungry for more. In 2017, still under contract with the army, he joined a Brazilian ju-jitsu club to improve his level of ground combat. It was a revelation: he became a blue belt French champion after two years of practice. His trainer, Christophe Savoca, urged him to get into MMA and scheduled him for amateur fights in Spain. Surprise: it sweeps away the competition. Savoca hears about a detection course organized by Daniel Woirin…
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