Joe Solecki vs Benoit Saint-Denis added to UFC Fight Night 219
UFC Fight Night 219 is to go down on February 18, 2023, live from a to-be-determined venue, and the UFC has added seven bouts to the card thus far, one of which comes in the lightweight division between a pair of absolute studs in Joe Solecki (12-3) and Benoit Saint-Denis (10-1).
This is a very exciting clash of the titans that should be very telling to see where each man is at in their respective careers.
29-year-old Joe Solecki first came to the UFC in December of 2019 following his Contender Series win that showed him victorious via submission (guillotine choke) in the opening round.
A three-fight win streak would soon follow inside the octagon, as he defeated Matt Wiman (UD), Austin Hubbard (rear naked choke), and Jim Miller (UD), before losing a narrow-split decision to Jared Gorden last year in October.
Multi-time BJJ world champion Davi Ramos had Hubbard’s back for a good portion of their fight and couldn’t submit him, and it took less than four minutes for Solecki to do so, and Miller went on to become the winningest fighter in UFC history following defeat to Solecki.
Once Solecki lost his incredibly close contest to Jared Gordon, he rebounded with a majority decision victory over 21-3 Alex da Silva.
Then we have 26-year-old (will be 27 by time they fight) Benoit Saint-Denis, who has been nothing short of impressive since arriving to the big show.
Following a unanimous decision defeat to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (8-2 in his last 10 inside the UFC going in) in his promotional debut, a fight he showed more heart and grit in that we’d ever seen from literally anyone, he’s since won two-straight, both of which he secured via finish in round two.
This would begin with a submission (rear naked choke) finish over Nikolas Stolze coming at 1:32 of round two, before he’d TKO Gabriel Miranda just 16 seconds into round two, becoming the first ever French fighter to win a UFC fight in France.
Solecki boasts a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, securing seven of his victories via submission with one knockout, while Saint-Denis boasts a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a black belt in Judo, eight of his wins coming via submission with two knockouts.
Who walks away from this epic lightweight clash at UFC FN 219 the victor?
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