The Australian crowd in Sydney was left in disappointed silence, as Benoit Saint-Denis brought the violence and left with a second-round finish in the co-main event of UFC 325.
The two quickly got to striking, with Hooker even countering a takedown attempt into a brief guillotine attempt. Saint-Denis caught a kick and pressed Hooker into the fence, but Hooker did another guillotine counter. Hooker did damage with kicks to the body, but BSD managed to score a takedown late in the round, threatening a kimura, and busting Hooker open with a number of shots to the head.
Hooker threatened a quick guillotine in a fast-paced start to the second round, but Saint-Denis continued to press forward. Hooker scored a takedown, but Saint-Denis smartly countered and quickly got into full mount, landing a strong series of elbows and threatening an arm-triangle choke. BSD got the choke locked in, but Hooker managed to defend it…only for Saint-Denis to land more ground-and-pound and bust Hooker open.
After about a minute of strong ground-and-pound, referee Herb Dean waved the fight off with about 15 seconds left, giving the win to BSD.
Benoit Saint-Denis Finds Takedown And Reversal, Scores Violent Finish At UFC 325
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Saint-Denis has now won four straight, a win streak that goes back to UFC 315 this past May. He is now 9-3 in the Octagon. He knocked out Beneil Dariush at UFC 322 prior to tonight.
Hooker has now lost back-to-back fights after a three-fight win streak. He lost to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Qatar in November.
