Just three to four years ago, the UFC light heavyweight division was thought of as THE division for all of MMA to aspire to. Oh how the mighty hath fallen.
While Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson are welcome additions and Gus remains dangerous, the rest of the division has fallen apart. Jones can’t stop getting into trouble long enough for people to like him, all of Pride FC’s fighters are completely shot, Phil Davis bolted for Bellator, Evans has been injured beyond an acceptable time frame, Machida dropped to middleweight and Ryan Bader is the third ranked fighter in the division.
I’ll repeat that: Ryan Bader is #3 in the rankings. With all due respect to Ryan Bader (a hard worker and a damned good wrestler) that should tell you everything.
But Ovince St. Preux has been making moves, and things are getting interesting.
There’s no doubt that OSP is a great athlete. He has a reasonably successful background in wrestling, track and football and it shows in the way he moves. Plus being 6’3” with an 80” reach makes him a hulk of a light heavyweight.
Apart from his physical gifts, he shows some interesting wrinkles that escape far more experienced fighters.
Against Ryan Jimmo, OSP repeatedly checked the karateka’s lead hand to shut down the jab. It’s the same technique that Johny Hendricks used to turn Georges St. Pierre from a well-rounded athlete savant to a man trying to hold back an avalanche. Now the effectiveness of the technique against Jimmo can be debated (I personally believe Jimmo ended up fighting better without the jab) it’s good to see a fighter recognize his opponent relies on his jab and immediately shutting it down.
His knockout of Patrick Cummins (arguably the best opponent after Ryan Bader) was also spectacular. Cummins had been grounding him with numerous takedowns all throughout the first round. While the Tennessee based fighter kept getting up and landing the more damaging strikes it was clear that St. Preux was in a close fight and that one of the takedowns would stick.
When Cummins attempted to close the distance one more time, OSP placed his right hand on his opponent’s right shoulder and blasted him with a lateral uppercut.
This odd, cross hand shoulder push is important.
It makes forward movement very awkward. With asymmetrical pressure on the shoulders, walking forward produces a “spinning” motion; Cummins’s left shoulder would have come forward while his right stayed put essentially turning him instead of moving him forward. Plus Cummins is an orthodox fighter and pushing his right shoulder keeps him from rotating into his power hand as St. Preux threw the left uppercut, reducing its power and allowing him to take it almost flush. It also gives him better timing; his hand gauges the movements of Cummins which allows St. Preux to better time the strike.
St. Preux is also a fan of the rear kick – straight combination. He used it to momentarily stun Cummins and whipped it out against Ryan Bader on numerous occasions. A well placed kick forces a fighter’s guard wide, opening up the center-line for a straight punch. Mirko Cro Cop used these same strikes individually to set up knockouts and while OSP has yet to put this combination on the highlight reel, I have yet to see a fighter simply ignore them.
Speaking of kicks, St. Preux has pretty good ones. It’s bizarre how many snap kicks to the liver and legs OSP lands considering how many competent grapplers he’s faced in his career. Hell, he was practically lifting Bader off the ground with his body kicks.
That being said, Ovince St. Preux has some glaring weaknesses.
Contrast the man to Jon Jones and Semmy Schilt. Those two men remain the two best examples in modern combat sports on how to effectively use range; long straight kicks keep the opponent at bay and accurate straight punches punish them when they try to close distance. While OSP is not obligated to emulate them to a tee, there’s no doubt that they have written a blue print on how to fight long.
Yet he seems to struggle when opponents manage to close distance. Even Cody Donovan, a mid-tier fighter who retired after 3 straight knockout losses in the UFC, was able to blitz him and clinch until the latter got him to the ground to score a finish. While the finish against Cummins (rightfully) gets the most attention it’s worth noting that he was taken down and clinched many times.
That’s not to say he’s bad in the clinch by any means; he’s scored takedowns, muscled his way out and staggered the durable Cummins with a knee to the gut out of the same position. But clinches are some of the most brutally taxing positions in the sport, requiring constant adjustments to maintain balance, guard against strikes all while trying to escape/hold the opponent. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson had beat Phil Davis silly for three rounds but gassed after one to Daniel Cormier as he was forced to work in the clinch.
In terms of cardio issues, Ovince Saint Preux is on a different level.
The difference between him in the first and second round is unacceptable for this level of competition. Against relentless takedown artists like Cummins it is somewhat understandable but against fighters like Gian Villante and Ryan Bader it’s unbelievable. Watch his hands drop to his waist after a quick combination on Bader, at which point he tries to dance back away to regain his composure.
While St. Preux fights with his hands lower than most, his was a stance of fatigue not strategy. And that was with over half of the second round left. If you think I’m just pointing out an isolated instance I recommend watching the fight in its entirety. Bader is a good fighter but he doesn’t push the pace like Cummins yet St. Preux was still beginning to fade by the second round.
If I have one last criticism of the man, it’s that the man doesn’t know how to hook.
Fans criticize St. Preux for having sloppy striking but that statement only applies to his left hook. In the fights leading up to and including the Ryan Bader fight he would wing his left hand like he believed he could fly. In the Shogun Rua fight it appeared that he had learned, dropping the former Pride FC and UFC champion with a short, knifing left hook.
Then I watched the Cummins fight where, after a couple sharp left hooks, St. Preux began winging and reaching.
Fighters like Jones and Condit who have the advantage of length have learned to resort to elbows when an opponent closes distance and use straight punches at a distance. It would be nice to see St. Preux develop the same strategy. Again I hate forcing fighters to “conform” to another fighter’s style but against truly prolific punchers like Rumble, Cormier and Gus I don’t see his winging hooks doing anything but being countered.
St. Preux finds himself in a similar situation to Jimi Manuwa; old yet having few miles on him. His only knockout loss was to Virgil Zwicker almost 6 years ago from which he seems to have no lasting damage. My primary concern is that the enormous, barrel chested 32 year old is already having cardio issues and the weight cuts only get harder with age.
If Glover Texeira shows up in form this Saturday, it will be interesting to see If St. Preux can hang on the feet with a far more polished boxer. Texeira survived what was an unceremonious ass-beating at the hands of Jon Jones for five rounds yet was still ready for more by the end.
I don’t know if St. Preux can generate effective offense for that long.
Ovince Saint Preux is the future of the light heavyweight division, no doubts about it. I just don’t know if that’s a good thing.
