Benoit St. Denis Explains Desire for ‘Violent Fight’ Against Justin Gaethje

Benoit St. Denis believes Justin Gaethje is one of the only fighters in the UFC who is durable enough to go toe-to-toe with him.

St. Denis pulled off his fifth consecutive stoppage win with a brutal first-round KO over lightweight veteran Matt Frevola at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. While St. Denis put all lightweights elites on notice in his post-fight interview, Justin Gaethje, who was present cageside, was shown on a split screen as “God of War” called him out.

St. Denis recently shared on "The MMA Hour” that Gaethje remains his primary focus, as he expects that a clash against “The Highlight” would turn out to be quite memorable.

“It is a fight I want to have,” St. Denis said. “It’s at the top of the list, of course. It’s not his fault, but I do believe they are going to make [Islam] Makhachev against [Charles] Oliveira. Gaethje is a warrior, he likes activity, but he will have to fight again and big dates are coming next year, and he has already (defeated) Dustin Poirier, he has been defeating a lot of tough guys, and I do believe this is a fight for the BMF [title] and he has the chin to make it a war. Because you can have tough guys, but if they don’t have the chin, with me, it’s not going to make it.

“I do believe we both have a chin that we can crack a couple of times, and if people want a violent fight and fight that could be history, I think that’s the fight to make. I do believe we can have a fight that is going to be crazy. Crazy scrambles, crazy punching exchanges. I have a lot of respect for him, but I do believe he will have to fight before getting the title because of this Islam Makhachev and Oliveira stuff, and Islam doesn’t fight this much so he will have to wait a lot. If he wants a war, anywhere, I’m for it.”