Saturday, September 5th
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai
UFC APEX – Las Vegas, Nevada
Alonzo Menifield looks to put his only career defeat behind him as he takes on Light Heavyweight mainstay Ovince Saint Preux in the co-main event this weekend. The fight was originally meant to take place two weeks ago but Saint Preux tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before the event.
Ovince Saint Preux (24–14) has been a UFC light-heavyweight since 2013. He has beaten former champion Maurício Rua by KO 34 seconds into their fight in Brazil in November 2014, securing a Performance of the Night (POTN) bonus, but was dominated by another former champion, Jon Jones, in a unanimous decision loss at UFC 197.
Saint Preux has a 12–9 UFC record — the Haitian-American won six of his first seven fights but has lost three of his last four including his most recent, his heavyweight debut in his birth state of Florida against Ben Rothwell by split decision in May. Now back at 205lbs, Saint Preux knows a submission win will see him as the outright record holder for UFC light heavyweight submissions (6) and stoppages (11); he is already holding the record for the most Von Flue choke wins in UFC history with four.
Absolute class 👏
Go step-by-step for one of @003_OSP's FOUR Von Flue chokes. #UFCVegas9 pic.twitter.com/nLDptTVikb
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2020
“OSP” has ten UFC finishes, six in round one and six by submission, and five losses by decision. At 6 feet 3 inches tall and with an 80-inch reach, Saint Preux holds advantages of 3 and 4 inches respectively over Menifield but may still choose to avoid standing, instead of attempting to take the fight to the mat to look for another submission.
Alonzo Menifield (9–1) appeared twice on Dana White’s Contender Series and won a UFC contract in series two, making his debut in January last year. A professional since 2015, Menifield has finished all of his victories, seven times in the first round and eight times by KO/TKO.
2–1 in the UFC, Menifield secured two first-round KO/TKO wins before losing for the first time in his career in his last outing, a unanimous decision defeat against Devin Clark at UFC 250. Saint Preux is much more experienced than Menifield and will provide is the biggest test to date, but despite a disadvantage in both height and reach I expect Menifield to try and keep the fight on the feet and search for another KO victory.
Prediction: Menifield by KO/TKO in a POTN.
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