Ovince Saint Preux

By FCF Staff

Ovince Saint Preux may not have won a round at UFC 197, but the light-heavyweight contender is drawing widespread praise for going the distance with Jon Jones. In a fight Saint Preux took on short notice, no less…

OSP recently agreed to face Jones on Saturday night, after the latter’s original opponent, champion Daniel Cormier went down with an injury. Jones proceed to outscore OSP throughout the bout, but the accomplished football player never gave up and kept attacking until the final bell.

After the card, here is what Rashad Evans had to say about OSP’s performance on the post-fight, FOX Sports 1 show (quote via FOX Sports 1 press release):

“That is a win for him. He didn’t embarrass himself. The fact that he could get up so fast when taken down. He never gave up. He hung in there, believed in himself and he grew miles. He showed some power against Jon and gave Jon some things to think about during the fight.”

“Ring rust is real. It’s all due with the timing and the doubts. Jon Jones had the doubts,” said Evans, while referring to the fact Jones hadn’t fought in over a year.  “He never opened up tonight. OSP grew up miles tonight. What he experienced tonight was better than anything he could learn in the gym. I thought he looked great. And he had some technique. I like that Jones took that 25 minutes and he took his time. He stayed the course. At the end of the day, he got the minutes in. But he was rusty.”

Saint Preux, who was coming off a UD win over Rafael Cavalcante heading into the bout, saw his record fall to 19-8.