"Damn shame he finna get cooked" - Benoit Saint-Denis inviting France president Emmanuel Macron to Dustin Poirier fight falls flat with fans

UFC lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis will take on former interim champion Dustin Poirier in the co-main event of UFC 299, and he has invited a special guest to the biggest fight of his life.

Saint-Denis invited French president Emmanuel Macron to attend the pay-per-view at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. He wrote in a post on X:

"Thank you for your support Mr. President @EmmanuelMacron! You are welcome to my next fight @UFC, March 9 in Miami during #UFC299 . Thanks also to my brother in arms and friend #Falco , true hero of our country [France flag emoji] Long live France, Long live #MMA [boxing glove emoji]"

Check out his translated post below:

Fans reacted to Saint-Denis tendering an invite to his president. Some expressed their pity at him potentially losing heavily to Poirier:

"Damn shame he finna get cooked"

"Bsd will have a bad end"

"Nobody cares about France and that clown Macron"

Other fans made reference to former president of the United States Donald Trump and his attendance at UFC events:

"That liberal piece of soy garbage Macron won't attend ufc.... It's not Donald Trump lil bro"

"Inviting your President cageside just to get obliterated. I've seen this before."

Check out fans comments in the screenshots below:

Fans react to Benoit Saint-Denis' invitation.

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Benoit Saint-Denis expresses his surprise over Dustin Poirier accepting his fight

Benoit Saint-Denis is ranked No.11 in the lightweight division, a far cry behind Dustin Poirier's No.3 ranking. 'The Diamond' has also headlined multiple UFC events, whereas Saint-Denis will feature in his first ever co-main.

The French athlete expressed his surprise about Poirier accepting the matchup in an interview with the Independent.

“Of course I was a bit surprised that he accepted. I believe the UFC worked on that as well... If a guy is coming off a loss, and the guys just behind him and in front of him already have a fight booked, he has to defend his rank. I thought I was going to take on Beneil Dariush, and I was surprised it ended up being Dustin Poirier."

Benoit Saint-Denis also elaborated on the competitive nature of the lightweight division:

"When you are inside the top 15, there are not a lot of people in front of you. I was on five finishes in a row, so I knew I was going to have a big fight against somebody in front of me. When there are fights taking place ahead of me [in the rankings], there are not a lot of people left to make one." [h/t Independent]