UFC lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis got one of the $50,000 bonuses for his performance during UFC Paris but he did pay quite a steep price to accomplish it with his big toe splitting in two against Gabriel Miranda.
Saint-Denis won his second bout in the octagon on Saturday night in the much anticipated Paris UFC debut.
He TKO’d Miranda in the second round.
C'EST MAGNIFIQUE! 🤌
🇫🇷 Benoit Saint-Denis has brought the French faithful to a feverish pitch! #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/OTAPOiGKtv
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 3, 2022
However, it came at a price since he sustained a terrible lesion on his left big toe. Saint-Denis kicked Miranda many times, almost causing his left hallux to split.
Blood started to run out of the toe, but Saint-Denis persevered through the agony to win with a stunning stopping.
UFC fans were quick to comment on the gruesome injury, with one saying: “That looks like a piece of tuna on his toe.”
Another fan said: “Looks like salmon on some sushi.”
And another said: “Bro, what??”
In his press conference appearance, the Frenchman said:
“After a couple of kicks, it split in two, almost. It’s simply a game of fighting. You never have a perfect preparation. There are always small injuries.”
“It’s a part of life for athletes, so now, I will take time to heal it up.”
When Saint-Denis entered his most recent training camp, his toe was already damaged.
He said:
“I could not lift my toe anymore, but I wanted to fight. We did no surgery. It was OK, I just had a lot of times where my toe was going into the ground. It injured me a little bit, so I had to train with shoes.”
“Just after Niklas, I got surgery, but six weeks without any sports, ”
“It was the best and hardest camp I ever had, because obviously, three weeks, the first two weeks you feel like s***, because you haven’t trained for a long time.”
Saint-Denis’ UFC record since making his debut last October is at 2-1 after his victory over Miranda.
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