Benoit Saint-Denis has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to compete on the UFC White House card.
‘God of War’ last fought inside the UFC Octagon at the beginning of the year when he took on Dan Hooker at UFC 325.
The Frenchman went on to score an extremely impressive win, dominating Hooker for two rounds before submitting him at the end of the second round.
And now back in the lightweight title conversation, Benoit Saint-Denis turned down the opportunity to fight on the upcoming historic UFC White House event.
Saint-Denis turned down fight against Michael Chandler
After scoring four impressive wins in a row since his loss to Renato Moicano, the 30-year-old has climbed back into the top five of the division.
And despite being on the verge of a title shot, he was offered a fight against Michael Chandler on the June 14 event but he decided to turn it down.
‘Iron’ Mike is currently ranked number 13 in the division and he is set to take on Mauricio Ruffy on the card.
According to the reports, his reason for turning down the fight is because he wants a fight against someone higher up in the rankings instead.
“Turning down a free win, lol,” one fan commented on the news.
“Smart move, to be honest, Chandler not gonna get him where he needs to be,” another fan said.
“I mean, yeah, he’s top 5 now. I think his next guy should be Max,” another fan suggested.
Chandler has lost his last three fights in a row, with his last win having come against Tony Ferguson in 2022.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“The fact Chandler was even offered this is insane. After his last win four years ago he lost to a top 5 opponent, then again, then a guy outside the top 5, now he’s supposed to be fighting another guy in the top 5? STOP REWARDING LOSES,” said another fan.
“As he should. Chandler hasn’t fought up the rankings since he debuted. He was lucky to get that Ruffy fight,” a fifth fan said.
Instead, Saint-Denis is looking at returning to action this coming July, potentially on the International Fight Week card, and he is targeting Max Holloway or Charles Oliveira.
2026-03-20 02:00:00
