Top 5: Benoit St. Denis Submissions

Squeeze plays are a Benoit St. Denis specialty.

The ex-French paratrooper disposed of Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight upstart Mauricio Ruffy with a face crank in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 258 co-main event on Sept. 6, 2025 at Accor Arena in Paris. Ruffy entered the cage on a seven-fight winning streak but clocked out 2:56 into Round 2, suffering his first setback in almost six years.

St. Denis was the aggressor from the start, fed off the energy of a raucous crowd and never took his foot off the accelerator. He backed up the Fighting Nerds prospect with kicks, closed the distance behind punches and delivered multiple takedowns in the first round, achieving full mount on two occasions. Round 2 provided more of the same. St. Denis completed another takedown, moved to the back and secured position with a body triangle. He peppered Ruffy with punches, snuck his arms around the Brazilian’s head and slowly but surely cranked up the pressure. Eventually, it proved too much to endure.

As St. Denis moves ever closer to his looming UFC 325 co-headliner with Dan Hooker this Saturday at Qudos Arena in Sydney, his finish of Ruffy ranks as one of his most memorable finishes. Four more to consider:

Benoit St. Denis vs. Arkaitz Ramos

Brave Combat Federation 52
Aug. 1, 2021 | Milan, Italy
St. Denis put away “Gudari” with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their Brave Combat Federation showdown in Italy’s second-most populous city. Ramos packed his bags 3:09 into Round 1. St. Denis executed a takedown inside the first 20 seconds, tested the Spaniard’s guard and ultimately climbed to full mount on two occasions. He softened Ramos with shoulder strikes and short punches, framed the arm-triangle and bit down on the choke. St. Denis slowly turned the tommy bar. Ramos struggled to free himself, but the pressure on his carotid arteries proved to be unbearable and forced him to tap. St. Denis arrived in the UFC a little less than three months later.

Benoit St. Denis vs. Niklas Stolze

UFC Fight Night 207
June 4, 2022 | Las Vegas
St. Denis registered his first win inside the Octagon when he took care of the SBG Ireland rep with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their lightweight prelim at the UFC Apex. Stolze, who had never before been submitted, bowed out 1:32 into Round 2. St. Denis sustained a cut on his left cheek courtesy of an early strike from the German but otherwise maintained firm control of the action. He secured the first of his two takedowns in the first round, racked up more than four minutes of control time and made continuous passes at rear-naked chokes. Stolze weathered those efforts but could only hold off the Frenchman’s advances for so long. St. Denis completed another takedown at the start of the middle stanza, progressed to the back and cinched the fight-ending choke.

Benoit St. Denis vs. Ismael Bonfim

UFC on ESPN 48
July 1, 2023 | Las Vegas
St. Denis dispatched “Marreta” with a painful face crank in the first round of their lightweight showcase at the UFC Apex. Bonfim capitulated 4:48 into Round 1, losing for the first time in almost nine years. Operating in the shadows of the Sean Strickland-Abusupiyan Magomedov main event, St. Denis distracted the Brazilian with a series of body kicks, then swooped in for a takedown. Bonfim eventually escaped to his feet after being mounted, only to be taken down a second time. St. Denis advanced to the back, laced his arms around the former Federal Fight champion’s head and applied maximum pressure. Bonfim cried uncle soon after, his career-best run of 13 consecutive victories at an end.

Benoit St. Denis vs. Kyle Prepolec

UFC 315
May 10, 2025 | Montreal
St. Denis rebounded from consecutive losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Carneiro when he dismissed the Canadian with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their lightweight appetizer at the Bell Centre. A short-notice fill-in for Joel Alvarez, Prepolec raised the white flag 2:35 into Round 2. St. Denis overwhelmed the former Samourai MMA champion with pace and aggression. He set the tone with a takedown inside the first 30 seconds of the first round, advanced to the back, threatened the neck with a rear-naked choke and applied his ground-and-pound. Prepolec survived but only prolonged the inevitable. St. Denis pinned him to the fence in the middle stanza, unleashed a hellacious barrage of elbows and bullied him back to the mat. From there, he framed the arm-triangle choke, cleared the guard and let his squeeze do the rest. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Prepolec.