Benoit Saint Denis reveals what he learned from Dustin Poirier fight and dealing with staph infection

Benoit Saint Denis has reflected on fighting Dustin Poirier while dealing with a staph infection.

Saint Denis was viewed as a dangerous threat to “The Diamond” going into their showdown back in March. Right away, Saint Denis showed that explosiveness fans have known him for, but Poirier stopped him in his tracks with a second-round KO. The loss put an end to Saint Denis’ five-fight winning streak.

Now that he’s had time to digest the fight, Saint Denis says he has no regrets.

RELATED: BENOIT SAINT-DENIS LAYS OUT HIS PATH TO EARN REMATCH WITH DUSTIN POIRIER

Benoit Saint Denis Reveals What He Learned From Dustin Poirier Loss

During an interview with MMAFighting.com, Benoit Saint Denis admitted that he wasn’t prepared for the pressure of fighting someone like Dustin Poirier while also dealing with a bad infection.

“I learned a lot,” Saint Denis told MMA Fighting. “First, I learned that you have to underestimate nobody, especially top fighters like that. And you can’t go out there not being healthy. That’s huge. But, despite that, I learned a lot. Nothing comes by mistake, I believe if I had this staph infection this late into my camp, it’s because I was stressed and I took no pleasure in my training camp.

“I had a lot of stuff, new stuff to manage that I was not used to. When you become somebody in the sport, you then have the shoulders of a CEO because you have all the staff and the management around you, a lot of people and you deal with the new stuff that is difficult to when it’s brand new. It takes time to have that experience. I believe being at the top is also a [tough] experience, and being able to manage your schedule and to still enjoy the process of being a fighter. It’s the most important thing and to make the people that are with you proud of your performance, and to have people with you that you want to make proud of the performance you are gonna deliver.

“So this is important. We made a lot of adjustments and I’m really happy now. And I took pleasure in training and I will take pleasure in my fight.”

Saint Denis made it clear that he has no regrets pushing on with the fight. He’ll have a chance to get back in the win column at home. Saint Denis headlines UFC Paris this Saturday in a lightweight tilt against Renato Moicano.

Going into the fight, Moicano is one spot ahead of Saint Denis in the official UFC lightweight rankings. Saint Denis hopes to score a win impressive enough to potentially send him into the top 10.