UFC 299: Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis initially canceled but decision reversed within hours

Dustin Poirier’s career is at a stage where making a comeback and impressing the UFC and MMA fans has become the biggest task of his career. Transitioning from being a title contender to becoming a co-main event fighter forced Dustin to carefully consider his bouts.

This dilemma of securing the ideal matchup for Poirier has become a topic of debate in MMA community. His devastating loss in his last fight led officials to announce a No. 11-ranked fighter as his next opponent, adding suspense to the confirmation of the bout.

The Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint-Denis fight is still on

UFC’s legendary commentator Joe Rogan has given Dustin Poirier advice to seriously prepare for this UFC 299 co-main event. The rollercoaster ride of “The Diamond” had made Joe one of his biggest supporters.

Rogan warned Dustin about the danger he would face at UFC 299. But before the confirmation of this bout, initially, it was given a red mark on the papers, but the good news for the fans came up within 24 hours.

Dustin Poirier posted a tweet on his Twitter account declaring the fight is on and clarified that he was unaware of what his manager did with the officials’ papers for UFC 299. However, he later came out with, “Sorry folks, I jumped the gun; I couldn’t get a hold of my manager for a few days. I just spoke with him and Hunter. Misunderstanding on my part. The fight is on! See you on March 9th, Miami!!!”

Why was Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint-Denis initially cancelled?

The former Interim lightweight champion suddenly came on Twitter, dropping a tweet about the UFC 299 bout cancellation but also confirming they were working on it. Most of the MMA community was also unaware of the fact that the bout hasn’t been officially announced, according to Dustin Poirier.

Ariel Helwani confirmed Dustin Poirier pointed out that he is not in a contractual agreement yet because he couldn’t manage to get to the terms.

The UFC’s official working pattern is to announce before making a fight agreement with the fighters. The same thing happened for the UFC 299 co-main event, where Dustin Poirier acted unaware of the fight agreement that had already been done. Via. MMAfighting.

Now, the bout has finally received official confirmation, and Benoit Saint Denis will take on the No. 3 ranked UFC lightweight contender on March 9th. Saint-Denis is on a 5-fight win streak, securing all 13 of his wins via finishes. The only blemish on his record was a decision loss against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on his UFC debut.

It will be an interesting challenge for Dustin Poirier as he is coming off a significant loss, and the 28-year-old Benoit’s submission and knockout skills have already taken the spotlight in the lightweight division. What do you think a new opponent like Benoit Saint-Denis has to do to stop Dustin Poirier within 5 rounds of fighting?