Renato Moicano explains why he’s “glad” to have not trained with teammate Dustin Poirier ahead of Benoit Saint Denis fight at UFC Paris
Renato Moicano has explained why he’s glad not to have trained with Dustin Poirier heading into his fight against Benoit Saint Denis.
This weekend, Renato Moicano faces a huge challenge. He’ll step into enemy territory in Paris, France as he prepares to battle Benoit Saint Denis. If he wins, it’ll give his UFC lightweight title hopes a huge boost.
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Someone who has fought, and defeated, Benoit Saint Denis recently is Dustin Poirier. ‘The Diamond’ is close friends and training partners with Moicano, and usually, it’d make sense for Renato to learn from someone who has beaten Saint Denis in the past.
In a recent interview, though, the Brazilian explained why they didn’t train together this time around.
Moicano explains why he didn’t ask for Poirier’s help
“I trained a lot with Thiago Moises, and he told me that the guy is very strong, especially because he fought Benoit and then we trained together,” Moicano said. “We are both lightweights, of course, so he was telling me to be ready; he’s very strong. I’m not underestimating him; I know he’s tough, I know he’s strong. Dustin Poirier also gave me some tips, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. I have to go over there and do my job, and my job is to beat him.”
“I know he had a very hard training camp against Islam [Makhachev] and Benoit, and I didn’t want to bother him. Even though we talked in Las Vegas at the International Fight Week, and he was more than ready to come down and train with me to help me for the fight, he was on vacation or something. I said, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna message you; I’m not gonna be selfish and try to make him come to ATT just to train with me’… I’m glad that I didn’t have to train with Dustin Poirier because he would beat my a**.”
Quotes via MMA News
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Topics:
Benoit Saint Denis Dustin Poirier Renato Moicano UFC
