“It’s part of the athlete life,” he said. “It was a complicated for me because I like to have fights as often as possible.”
Although Saint-Denis had to wait until the second half of the year to make his first walk of 2023, he gets an all-action contest against Bonfim. The Contender Series graduate stunned in his debut at UFC 283 as he put away Terrance McKinney with a perfect flying knee that capped a dominant performance.
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In total, 13 of Bonfim’s 19 professional wins have come via finish. Combined with Saint-Denis’ 100 percent finishing rate, fireworks are nearly guaranteed in the UFC APEX.
“It will be a very violent fight,” Saint-Denis said. “We’re very engaged because we are both moving forward a lot. We will see who is going to go down first.”
Saint-Denis said he doesn’t necessarily go into a fight pushing to finish, but it is rather something he can spot and pounce on naturally.
Although Saint-Denis is more comfortable once the fight gets into the clinch, where he can use his solid grappling skills, he credits his well-rounded attack as the reason he is 10-for-10 as far as finishes.
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“If you are a good wrestler but you have no grappling, obviously you will win the fight, but it will be difficult to finish. If you are a good striker, and you get taken down, you get the same problem,” he said. “One of my main focuses is to be aggressive on the feet and on the ground where you can finish your fight. You don’t finish your fight with a takedown. If the guy shows me weakness, I will take it.”
