The unorthodox heavyweight bout is expected to go on UFC's May 13th Florida show.
Ben Rothwell vs Ovince Saint Preux Expected For May 13th UFC
UFC’s various May cards seem to be taking shape. May 13th in Jacksonville, Florida marks the date and location for this curious heavyweight bout, Rothwell vs Saint Preux. An initial report was put out by ESPN with confirmation on the news being relayed to MMA Fighting. Damon Martin relayed the information about this expected fght via his Twitter account. Both are unranked in the division heading into this one. Both are presumably looking for an emphatic W to vault them to that top fifteen level.
Rothwell vs Saint Preux
Rothwell was initially scheduled to fight Gian Villante on the April 18th card. That bout was scrapped due to the event being canceled. Big Ben will instead stand on the other end of the cage from a different light-heavyweight expatriate in OSP. Saint Preux also had a prior date this month. An April 28th bout against Ion Cutelaba fell by the wayside. Cutelaba not being able to gain entry in the US with the present social landscape resulted in UFC matchmakers having to pivot and adjust.
Both men got back into the win column during their last outings and both broke losing streaks (Rothwell losing three straight and OSP taking losses in back to back performances). Rothwell scored a second-round knockout win over Stefan Struve this past December. Saint Preux returned to the win column with his vaunted Von Flue choke (Von Preux?) maneuver that he has been known to break out. The latest to fall to this maneuver was Michał Oleksiejczuk in the second round of their September 2019 prizefight.
This fight marks OSP’s first foray to the heavyweight division. This after competing at 205 lbs for the majority of his career. This bout will also mark the 50th pro-MMA bout for Rothwell who has been a UFC veteran for over a decade. Today has been a fun one for fight dialogue with bouts being concretely booked and some enjoyable possible bouts being pontificated on as well.
