LAS VEGAS – Ovince Saint Preux is one of the most senior fighters (in both age and experience) on the UFC roster, but Saturday proved he still has some left in the tank.
Main card of UFC Fight Night 239, Saint Preux (27-17 MMA, 14-12 MMA) UFC) Excited for 3 round hard-hitting battle with Kennedy Nizechuk (MMA 12-5, MMA 6-5) UFC) by split decision.
The entire fight, especially in the third round, both men stood in the pocket and delivered blows. Saint Preux's boxing and aggression made the difference, with two of the three judges siding with Saint Preux.
“Also to be honest, I knew he didn't have that (punch) knockout power,” Saint Preux told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight press conference. “He was making shots. He was hitting shots. Actually, my trainer's wife, Taylor, we were doing something the other day and she was like, 'You can do anything for five minutes.' Told. If you do it in five minutes, you can do anything in five minutes.’ I thought, ‘Okay, cool. You can do so even if he ends up staying in the phone booth for 5 minutes. I was like, “I'm going to start a fight.” I'm not going to go down. 'We stayed there. I knew he was tired of hitting me, but I wasn't going to get tired of hitting him either. ”
Saint Preux, 40, has been on the promotion's roster since 2013. Saturday's fight moves him to No. 1 on the promotion's all-time light heavyweight appearances list.
So where does OSP go from here after winning two of their last three matches?
“[I]will continue to piss people off,” Saint Preux joked. “So it was a good fight. He came out with an orthodox attitude and I was like, 'OK.' I had some preparation, but I expected to be a southpaw. Then his jab kind of landed. I wondered, “Hey, why does his jab land a little better?” He became right-handed. Considering the fact that he was dominant and southpaw, he was able to jump out a little early. But once I got the timing and stuff like that, I think my head movement got a lot better and I messed up his timing a little bit. …I'm planning to fight two more times this year. ”
For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC Fight Night 239 event hub.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
