UFC 299: Dustin Poirier Explains Motivation to Fight 'Hungry Lion' Benoit Saint-Denis

'The Diamond' details what's so enticing about facing a rising contender.

Dustin Poirier knows what he's in for at UFC 299.

After suffering a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in his last outing at UFC 291, 'The Diamond' faces the pressure again in the co-main event slot at UFC 299, this time against a surprising, yet deadly opponent in Benoit Saint-Denis. 

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"A little bit surprising at first, when I first heard the name," Poirier admitted to Kevin Iole. "Because I thought it would be a former champ or one of the guys in the top of a legacy type of fight."

France's Saint-Denis is riding a five-fight finishing streak but certainly doesn't fit the mould of a 'legacy fight'. "When they said his name, I was like 'Okay, this young, hungry lion'," Poirier confessed. "Let's find out if I still got it."

In the twilight years of his career, Poirier is finding a different motivation to fight Saint-Denis:

"What was enticing about this matchup was to find out, this was like a me looking myself in the mirror thing," Poirier went on. "I'm 35 years old. This guy's 27 or 28, finished his last 5 opponents. Obviously, if you look at the fights that I've taken against like [Justin] Gaethje, I didn't have to take that fight, but it made me nervous, so I felt like I had to do it. 

"The obstacle is the way. That's what we're doing here, man. To get to it, you gotta get through it. So, I'm gonna stand in front of this young, hungry guy and test myself. That's what I'm doing here. This is exciting."

As for Saint-Denis, he was equally as surprised to be facing Poirier in Miami. 

"Of course, I was a bit surprised that he accepted," Saint-Denis told The Independent. ".... I thought I was going to take on Beneil Dariush, and I was surprised it ended up being Dustin Poirier. .... I'm very happy that the UFC managed to make the fight."

#12 ranked Saint-Denis gets the rare opportunity to jump nine spots in the division when he takes on #3 Poirier. The last fighter to make the best of an opportunity like this would have been #11 Sean O'Malley against #1 Petr Yan at UFC 280; "Sugar" would progress to become the bantamweight champion.

The stakes are high at UFC 299 as Saint-Denis vies for his chance to enter lightweight title contention, and Poirier entertains a deadly fight which could very well be his last.

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