2 weeks Ago By Mike Johnston
Fight fans are in for an international delight when the UFC returns to Canada on May 10 with France’s Benoit Saint Denis set to face Spain’s Joel Alvarez at UFC 315 in Montreal. The thrilling lightweight matchup was officially added to the May 10 card by the organization with an announcement Saturday night during the UFC 314 broadcast. Both 155-pounders are known for their ability to earn the knockout or submission without requiring the judges’ scorecards, each having gone the distance just once during their respective professional MMA careers.
Saint Denis quickly rose up the rankings in 2022 and 2023 with five consecutive stoppage wins before getting checked by the top of the division. The 29-year-old is coming off back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier (by knockout at UFC 299 a year ago) and Renato Moicano (technical knockout due to eye injury in September) but remains the No. 13-ranked contender at lightweight.
Alvarez, meanwhile, has won seven of his past eight fights in the UFC, with his lone loss coming to current No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan three years ago. Since then, the 32-year-old who stands six-foot-three has finished Marc Diakiese, Elves Brener and Drakkar Klose UFC 315 is headlined by a welterweight title fight between champion Belal Muhammad and No.
5 contender Jack Della Maddalena. Valentina Schevchenko looks to defend her women’s flyweight championship against No. 2-ranked Manon Fiorot in the co-main event.
A welterweight matchup between Gilbert Burns and Michael Morales has been removed from the card and will instead headline a May 17 UFC Fight Night event at the banner's Apex facility in Las Vegas. The current projected bout order for the UFC’s first event in Montreal since 2015 is below: MAIN CARD -- Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena -- Valentina Schevchenko vs.
Manon Fiorot -- Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi -- Alexa Grasso vs. Natalia Silva -- Benoit Saint Denis vs.
Joel Alvarez PRELIMINARY CARD -- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Ion Cutelaba -- Mike Malott vs. Charles Radtke -- Jessica Andrade vs.
Jasmine Jasudavicius -- Navajo Stirling vs. Ivan Erslan -- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Bruno Silva -- Brad Katona vs.
Bekzat Almakhan.
