Ovince Saint Preux is planning to appeal his loss to Tanner Boser this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 30.
Saint Preux moved back up to heavyweight to face short-notice replacement, in Boser. Saint Preux was supposed to face Maxim Grishin at light heavyweight, but after Grishin couldn’t get a visa, “OSP” decided to take another fight at heavyweight.
In the second round, as OSP had Boser down, it appeared the Canadian grabbed the fence to get back up. Shortly after that, he landed the big shot that led to the KO.
Now, Saint Preux is planning to appeal the result as he felt the ref touching him meant a pause in the action. Instead, the fight continued and Boser got the KO.
“I felt the ref put his hand on my back, which is only done to pause the action or call a finish,” Saint Preux said in a statement to MMA Fighting. “I slightly paused and then the tide turned. We will be protesting and requesting a no-contest.”
Whether or not the commission will overturn the result is to be seen. Appeals in MMA rarely do end up working, but if OSP and his team believe Boser used an illegal move to get back up which set up the win, it does make sense to appeal.
With the loss at UFC Vegas 30, Saint Preux is now 25-16 as a pro and coming off back-to-back TKO losses. Prior to the setback against Boser, he lost by second-round TKO to Jamahal Hill. The veteran, who’s now 38-years-old is just 3-6 in his last nine but still remain a big name in the sport.
Tanner Boser, meanwhile, likely saved his UFC job with the win over Saint Preux on Saturday. Before the loss, he dropped controversial decisions to Ilir Latifi and Andrei Arlovski after being on a two-fight KO streak.
