Saint-Denis, who was born in Nimes, southern France, shaped a part of the French Military Particular Forces when he joined aged 18.
“Most of my work as a Particular Pressure operator was within the sub-Saharan space. So Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger. I used to be principally there in opposition to Boko Haram,” says Saint-Denis.
Boko Haram is a militant Islamist group, designated as a terrorist organisation by the UK, which operates in international locations resembling Nigeria, Niger and Mali.
Saint-Denis’ work largely concerned working in counter-terrorism to fight the specter of teams like Boko Haram.
“After we are speaking about counter-terrorism, it will be the arrest or the destruction of terrorist threats. Or stopping terrorist extractions in cities like Timbuktu, for instance,” Saint-Denis says.
His group had been additionally tasked with defending essential members of the French authorities, like Hollande, throughout overseas visits.
Saint-Denis appears to be like again on his time within the French army fondly.
“It was lengthy and fatiguing and demanding, and after this I believe I used to be a person – I used to be disciplined, and I knew learn how to work to get issues accomplished,” he says.
“It was very adventurous, and I cherished it.”
Preventing terrorism and competing within the UFC are vastly totally different worlds with pressures of their very own, however Saint-Denis doesn’t must dwell for lengthy when deciding which is harder.
“It depends upon the event, however globally, I’d say being a UFC fighter,” he provides.
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