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Madison Square Garden goes insane after UFC 322 main card opens with 16-second KO

"God of War" has now stopped three-straight opponents.
Drew Beaupre|
(Zuffa LLC)

The biggest win of Benoit Saint-Denis' fighting career provided a stunning start to the UFC 322 main card.

Following some action-packed prelim fights that closed out with an incredible head kick knockout from former NCAA wrestling standout Bo Nickal, UFC 322 moved to pay-per-view for a stacked main card headlined by UFC Welterweight Champion Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev.

The main card also featured another massive title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Weili Zhang in the co-main event, and the pay-per-view action kicked off in incredible fashion when Saint-Denis flattened Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds.

Benoit Saint-Denis Floors Beneil Dariush At Madison Square Garden

After making his UFC debut up a weight class in 2021, Saint-Denis broke into the promotion's lightweight rankings with a five-fight win streak that saw him finish every opponent that he faced.

READ MORE: UFC 322 free live stream results & highlights for Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev

The Frenchman was given a significant step up in competition at UFC 299 and was stopped by Dustin Poirier before he also fell short in a UFC Paris main event against Renato Moicano. Undeterred by the first back-to-back losses of his career, Saint-Denis rebounded with a pair of stoppage-wins earlier this year to earn himself a spot on the UFC 322 main card.

"God of War" was matched with perrenial top lightweight Dariush, who himself had just returned to the win column after back-to-back losses with a unanimous decision against the aforementioned Moicano at UFC 317.

Saint-Denis was slightly favored to get his hand raised at Madison Square Garden, but few fans could have predicted that he would stop Dariush in just 16 seconds during the fight's first meaningful exchange.

Dariush protested the stoppage but clearly still seemed dazed after pulling himself up off the canvas, which left Saint-Denis to climb up onto the cage to the roaring approval of the Madison Square Garden fans.

READ MORE: UFC newcomer upsets undefeated KO artist on 2 days' notice at UFC 322

Coming into the night as the UFC's #13-ranked lightweight contender, Saint-Denis will presumably vault up the rankings next week and take Dariush's #9 spot.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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