Ovince Saint Preux is set to fight Marcos Rogerio de Lima on home soil — and it’s an important one.
Ranked light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux has fought the likes of Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira, but his most crucial fight to date is still likely ahead of him — and perhaps it was just made official.
Saint Preux is set to face Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville later this year, UFC officials announced Friday.
Saint Preux (19-10) is currently riding a three-fight skid and is 1-4 in his last five outings. He stepped up on short notice against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jones for the interim belt, but walked away with a dominant decision loss on his record. At UFC 204 last October, the Knoxville, TN native was knocked out by top contender Jimi Manuwa. In his last bout, he dropped a close decision to newcomer Volkan Oezdemir earlier this month. Saint Preux hasn’t won a fight since his February 2016 victory over Rafael Cavalcante.
OSP headlined the last UFC event in Nashville, which took place in August 2015. He was finished by the aforementioned Teixeira in his home state.
De Lima (15-4-1) hasn’t put together a winning streak (or a skid, for that matter) since a six-fight unbeaten streak that lasted from mid 2012 to late 2014. The Brazilian is 2-2 in his last four fights. In his last outing, he defeated newcomer Jeremy Kimball by first-round TKO at UFC on FOX 23 last month. His recent fights also include: a submission loss to Gadzhimurad Antigulov; a submission win over Clint Hester; and a submission loss to Nikita Krylov.
It hasn’t been made clear where Saint Preux vs. de Lima will be placed on the card.
UFC Fight Night 108 takes place live from Bridgestone Arena on April 22. In the main event, longtime featherweight contender Cub Swanson meets Artem Lobov.
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