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Benoît Saint Denis

French UFC lightweight and former special forces soldier who started jiu-jitsu in 2017 and became French national champion at blue belt in 2019.

Biography

Benoît Saint Denis is a French mixed martial artist, born in Nîmes in 1995, who fights in the UFC lightweight division under the nickname God of War. Before he turned professional he held a black belt in judo, had served as a special forces soldier in the French Army, and had collected Brazilian jiu-jitsu results at blue belt between 2017 and 2019. He started judo at the age of eight, training in both France and Germany, and went on to earn his black belt. In the army he belonged to the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, which sits under the special forces command of the French Army, and he left the service in March 2019 after five years. Jiu-jitsu entered his life in 2017, while he was still a soldier. In the Bayonne area, near his regiment, he began training with Christophe Savoca, and in the same period he took up kickboxing with Stéphane Susperregui. At blue belt he won the medium-heavyweight division of the West Zone Championship in France in 2017. Late that year the IBJJF's published results for its Paris International Open No-Gi, a competition without the traditional jacket, the gi, placed him third in the blue-belt medium-heavy division. In 2018 he went back to the West Zone Championship, winning the blue-belt middleweight absolute category, an open-weight bracket, and taking second in the regular category. In May 2018 the IBJJF's results for the Paris Spring International Open, contested in the gi, list him first in the blue-belt medium-heavy division. In 2019 he became French national champion at blue belt, taking the middleweight title in both gi and no-gi. He also appeared on two ACB JJ shows, where he lost on points to Yusup Raisov. His English-language Wikipedia entry lists his jiu-jitsu rank as brown belt. In July 2018 Savoca asked a Brazilian colleague, Luiz Tosta, to take Saint Denis in for a week at Shootfighters, Tosta's MMA gym in London. That September, Saint Denis was noticed at a selection test run by the coach Daniel Woirin. After leaving the army in 2019 he committed to combat sports full time and began a professional MMA career, joining the Bulgarian Top Team, managed by Giom Peltier. His UFC debut came on short notice at UFC 267 on 30 October 2021, at welterweight against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, and he lost by unanimous decision. The UFC's athlete page lists him at lightweight, with Venum Training Camp Paris as his training base. When read in October 2026, the same page gave his professional record as 17 wins and 4 losses, with 11 of the wins coming by submission and 6 by knockout. On 18 May 2024 he took a grappling-only match again, facing Marc Diakiese at the Dojo de Paris in the no-gi headline bout of ADXC 4. The contest went five rounds. BJJEE's report describes him nearly finishing it with a neck attack in the first round, and he won by unanimous decision.

Sources for this profile

  • Wikipedia, article on Benoît Saint Denis, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • Benoît Saint Denis was born on 18 December 1995 in Nîmes, in the Gard department of France.

      Where in the source: Infobox, Born row, and the Background section's first sentence

      Accessed:

    • The article describes Saint Denis as a French professional mixed martial artist and former French Army Special Forces soldier who competes in the UFC lightweight division.

      Where in the source: Lead paragraph, first sentence

      Accessed:

    • Saint Denis trained judo in France and Germany from the age of eight and earned a black belt.

      Where in the source: Background section, first paragraph, the sentence about judo training in France and Germany

      Accessed:

    • Saint Denis served in the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment of the French Army Special Forces Command, and left the army in March 2019 after five years of service.

      Where in the source: Background section, second paragraph; infobox Military career

      Accessed:

    • Saint Denis began Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Christophe Savoca in 2017 in the Bayonne region, close to his regiment, and began kickboxing with Stéphane Susperregui at the same time.

      Where in the source: Section 'Early kickboxing and BJJ career', first sentence

      Accessed:

    • In 2017 Saint Denis won the medium-heavyweight division of the West Zone Championship in France at blue belt, and took third place in the medium-heavyweight division at the 2017 IBJJF Paris International Open No Gi Championship.

      Where in the source: Section 'Early kickboxing and BJJ career', second paragraph

      Accessed:

    • In 2018 Saint Denis won the blue-belt middleweight absolute category and took second in the regular category at the West Zone Championship, and won the blue-belt medium-heavyweight division at the IBJJF Paris International Open Gi in spring 2018.

      Where in the source: Section 'Early kickboxing and BJJ career', third paragraph

      Accessed:

    • Saint Denis won both the gi and no-gi divisions of the 2019 French national championship at blue belt in the middleweight division, and also took part in two ACB JJ shows, losing on points to Yusup Raisov.

      Where in the source: Section 'Early kickboxing and BJJ career', fourth paragraph, first two sentences

      Accessed:

    • In July 2018 Savoca asked his Brazilian colleague Luiz Tosta to host Saint Denis for a week at Tosta's MMA gym, Shootfighters, in London.

      Where in the source: Section 'Early kickboxing and BJJ career', last paragraph

      Accessed:

    • The English Wikipedia infobox gives Saint Denis the nickname God of War and lists his rank as brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and black belt in judo.

      Where in the source: Infobox, Nickname and Rank rows

      Accessed:

    • Saint Denis made his UFC debut at welterweight on short notice at UFC 267 on 30 October 2021 against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and lost by unanimous decision.

      Where in the source: Section 'Ultimate Fighting Championship', 2021 subsection

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia lists the ADXC 4 no-gi main event against Marc Diakiese on 18 May 2024 under his professional grappling career and records a unanimous-decision win.

      Where in the source: Section 'Professional grappling career'

      Accessed:

    • In September 2018 Saint Denis was noticed at a selection test run by the coach Daniel Woirin, and after leaving the army in 2019 he began a professional MMA career, joining the Bulgarian Top Team under the manager Giom Peltier.

      Where in the source: Section 'Mixed martial arts career', first two paragraphs

      Accessed:

  • AOL syndication of The Independent feature on Benoit Saint-Denis's path from the army to the UFC, dated 5 March 2024 (first published January 2024), read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • A 2024 feature on Saint Denis says he became a judo black belt as a teenager, later added jiu-jitsu to his skills, impressed the coach Daniel Woirin in 2018 and left the army in 2019 to compete in combat sports full time.

      Where in the source: Fourth paragraph of the article, after the military-service passage

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  • UFC.com, athlete profile for Benoît Saint Denis, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • The UFC athlete page lists Saint Denis in the lightweight division, born in Nîmes, with the nickname God of War, an Octagon debut on 30 October 2021 and a listed training base at Venum Training Camp Paris.

      Where in the source: Athlete header and the bio facts panel (Place of birth, Trains at, Octagon debut)

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    • As shown on the UFC athlete page when read on 21 October 2026, the record line for Saint Denis was 17 wins, 4 losses and no draws, with 6 wins by knockout and 11 by submission.

      Where in the source: Athlete header: record line (W-L-D) and the wins-by-method figures

      Accessed:

  • BJJEE, ADXC 4 event report, 20 May 2024, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • In the grappling main event of ADXC 4 at the Dojo de Paris on 18 May 2024, Saint Denis beat Marc Diakiese by unanimous decision after five rounds; the report says he nearly submitted Diakiese with a neck attack in the first round.

      Where in the source: Grappling Main Event paragraphs of the event report; article dated 20 May 2024

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  • Jits Magazine, ADXC 4 full results and review, 19 May 2024, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • Jits Magazine's results page for ADXC 4, which took place on 18 May 2024, lists Benoit Saint Denis as the winner over Marc Diakiese by unanimous decision.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph and the Full Results list, first entry; posted 19 May 2024

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, Paris Spring International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2018, public results, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • The IBJJF results page for the Paris Spring International Open 2018 (gi), final result dated 12 May 2018, lists Benoit Saint Denis of Blackout Academy in first place in the Male / Adult / Blue / Medium Heavy (88.30 kg) division.

      Where in the source: Division heading 'MALE / ADULT / BLUE / MEDIUM HEAVY (88.30KG)', first-place entry

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  • IBJJF, Paris International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2017, public results, read 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)

    • The IBJJF results page for the Paris International Open No-Gi 2017, final result dated 1 December 2017, lists Benoit Saint Denis of Blackout Academy in third place in the Male / Adult / Blue / Medium Heavy (85.50 kg) division.

      Where in the source: Division heading 'MALE / ADULT / BLUE / MEDIUM HEAVY (85.50KG)', third-place entries

      Accessed:

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