The manger of lightweight contender Benoît Saint Denis thinks the UFC may have announced his upcoming bout with Dustin Poirier too soon because of Francis Ngannou’s impressive boxing career.
This weekend, Saint Denis will have the chance to advance up the rankings at 155 pounds. He will be competing against former interim champion Poirier at the UFC 299 pay-per-view in Miami.
The bout was first announced on January 8, but uncertainty surrounded it last month when Poirier said on social media that it was off. Even though the matter was eventually resolved, the UFC came under fire for what seemed to be another case of a match being advertised without the consent of both parties.
During a recent interview with Gong – Gi Or No Gi, Guillaume Peltier (Saint Denis’s manager) affirmed that the French contender had not officially signed to face Poirier. Negotiations were still underway in the aftermath of the UFC’s premature revelation.
Guillaume Peltier sheds light on a plausible reason for the early disclosure, linking it to the boxing endeavors of former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Just three days before the official announcement of Saint Denis vs. Poirier, news surfaced about Ngannou’s second boxing match against Anthony Joshua.
Francis Ngannou developed his career in combat sports In France. Peltier thinks the UFC may have rushed to counter the news by securing a significant bout for one of the most well-known MMA competitors in France.
Peltier said: “So what happened — I think, according to me, I have no confirmation, I’m talking to you with an open heart — things accelerated due to Ngannou. I think UFC wanted to counter-attack [news of Ngannou vs. Joshua] and make this news flop a little bit in France.”
“To me, I think they said to themselves, ‘We have Ciryl Gane or Benoît Saint Denis, and we have to react immediately to Ngannou’s announcement to ensure it goes by the wayside and no one talks about it.”
“And I don’t know if you agree with me, but in the end we talked very little about the Ngannou fight, finally, with the announcement of Benoît Saint Denis [vs. Dustin Poirier]. The counter-attack succeeded.”
Ngannou is poised to showcase his skills this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against Joshua in the boxing ring. Simultaneously, Saint Denis eyes the chance to elevate his status in his home country by winning against Dustin Poirier.