Benoit Saint-Denis will look to extend his win streak to four this weekend at UFC 325 by making easy work of Dan Hooker.

Earlier this week, on media day, the French fighter was asked whether he expected any bad-blood to brew between him and Hooker during the buildup. Hooker has called him the “nicest bloke in the world,” and BSD also feels the same way. He confessed that everything has been peaceful so far, and both men have immense respect for each other. He added that he “expects nothing special” from the Kiwi but RESPECT.

“I expect nothing special. I expect respect. He knows it’s going to be a battle inside the octagon… I want to fight the best version of him, and the same for me. Let’s see who is going to be the winner.”

Check out Benoit Saint-Denis’ comments below (22:10):

After securing three back-to-back finishes in 2025, Benoit Saint Denis climbed up to the No. 8 spot in the UFC lightweight chart and now sits just two spots below Dan Hooker.

During the same sit-down, ”God of War’ stated that if he gets past Hooker, he expects to break into the top five. He next has his crosshairs on the undisputed 155-pound championship and the BMF belt.

Dan Hooker feels pre-fight animosity is unnecessary

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Dan Hooker gave his two cents on whether pre-fight animosity with opponents is important and if that hate helps on fight night.

‘The Hangman’ believes that any emotion, good or bad, has no place inside the octagon, as it only leads to distractions. Hence, the 35-year-old Kiwi prefers to enter the cage emotionless. He said:

“You get angry, you lose. You get happy, you get distracted, you lose. You have to stay calm, calculated, and just remove emotion from the whole situation altogether. If you get emotional, you lose. So you have to stay very composed and very emotionless when you’re out there. By the time you step in the cage, it doesn’t matter if you hate the guy or you think he’s the best bloke in the world, you’re so cold and calculated at that point.”

Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below (4:04):