This weekend’s UFC Fight Night Prelims will feature Niklas Stolze and Benoit Saint-Denis. The bout will take place in the lightweight division. Both unranked fighters are coming off defeats in their respective last fights. Hence, it will be a chance for both Niklas and Benoit to get back to winning ways.
Nicknamed The Green Mask, Niklas Stolze fought Ramazan Emeev on his UFC debut in 2020. The bout went the went full distance and Emeev won the bout via unanimous decision. Stolze took off a year following the loss. But his return fight in 2021 went horribly for Niklas. Jared Gooden knocked him out in the first round itself.
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Benoit Saint-Denis had his very first fight in the UFC in November of 2021. But unfortunately, he lost to Elizeu Zaleski via unanimous decision. However, he had a great record of 8-0 before joining the UFC. Saint-Denis spent the majority of his career in Brave where he held a record of 5-0.
UFC Fight Night Prelims, Niklas Stolze vs Benoit Saint-Denis: Stats
Stats | Niklas Stolze | Benoit Saint-Denis |
---|---|---|
Wins | 12 | 8 |
Losses | 5 | 1 |
Height | 1.85 m | 1.8 m |
Division | Lightweight | Lightweight |
Reach | 188 cm | 185.4 cm |
Age | 29 | 26 |
Niklas Stolze vs Benoit Saint-Denis: Fight Breakdown
In his last 2 UFC fights, Niklas Stolze has landed strikes at a rate of 2.29 per minute. But he has also absorbed 2.67 strikes per minute. In his first bout, the German fighter showed off his wrestling against Emeev where he landed 1 takedown. He had a control time of 0.21 seconds. The stats show that he has not been able to show off his skills at all in his UFC run so far.
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Benoit Saint-Denis shares his nickname with Deiveson Figueiredo, ‘The God of War.’ But in his last fight, he was not quite able to live up to his nickname in his last fight. He only secured 2 takedowns out of 12. Even then he was grappled by Elizeu Zaleski as Zaleski had control time of 2 minutes on the ground, as opposed to Benoit’s 1 minute and 55 seconds.
The French fighter made his UFC debut in the welterweight division. But he will move down to lightweight to take on Niklas Stolze this Saturday. He will have the advantage in grappling. Benoit has a finishing rate of 100% with 7 submissions and 1 KO. But Stolze has a decent record on the ground with 5 submission victories himself.
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Neither fighter has been submitted in their respective careers so far. However, Stolze was finished in his last fights via strikes. But he will have the height advantage against Benoit. Hence there remains a possibility of the fight going the distance.
With Stolze’s superior kickboxing abilities, he will look to maintain his distance. But he may get taken down by Benoit and get handled on the ground. Hence the bout may go either way.