A pair of formerly ranked
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights will try to
get a number next to their name in September.
Two large 205ers will come to blows on Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas as part of UFC Fight Night 242, as first reported by
MMA Junkie on Monday. Both Ryan Spann
(21-10) and Ovince St.
Preux (27-17) are 2-3 in their last five respective outings,
but a statement performance could still rebound them to fringe
contender status. The pairing has since been confirmed by
other outlets.
The 32-year-old Spann has dropped three straight outings, with a
triangle choke loss to Nikita
Krylov, a close decision to Anthony
Smith and a stunning knockout at the hands of Bogdan
Guskov sullying his recent ledger. Before the trio of setbacks,
Spann maintained his status as a top-15 light heavyweight by
hitting a quick guillotine choke on Ion
Cutelaba and crushing Dominick
Reyes in 80 seconds in 2022. As a pro, “Superman” has earned
stoppages in 18 of his 21 victories.
While St. Preux too has lost in three of his last five appearances,
two of his last three were split decision wins in favor of him over
Mauricio
Rua and Kennedy
Nzechukwu. On the other side of the equation, Jamahal
Hill, Tanner
Boser and Philipe
Lins all punched him out within two rounds. “OSP” celebrates
the most Von Flue—or as some have renamed it, Von Preux—chokes in
company history, landing the unorthodox shoulder choke on four
separate occasions.
UFC Fight Night 242, also called UFC Vegas 97, will go down at the
UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Headlining the show is a welterweight
contest as Gilbert
Burns faces Sean Brady.
Other tilts likely serving on the main card include a flyweight
clash between Jessica
Andrade and Natalia
Silva, a featherweight striker’s delight between Calvin
Kattar and Kyle Nelson
and a middleweight pairing of Andre
Petroski vs. Dylan
Budka.