OUT COLD.
@003_OSP
walkin’ off in style tonight![ We’re live NOW on
#ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/A7tqzYHSB9
— UFC (@ufc)
September 6, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app.
Ovince St.
Preux’s second-round knockout of Alonzo
Menifield in the UFC Fight Night 176 co-headliner was a thing
of beauty.
The veteran light heavyweight waited patiently for his opportunity,
and when Menifield recklessly rushed forward, “OSP” knocked him
unconscious with a perfectly-time counter left hook.
“If you pressure me,” St. Preux said on the ESPN+ post-fight show,
“I do really good going backwards and I connected really good.”
The former University of Tennessee football player set the stage
for the highlight-reel finish by frustrating Menifield in the
bout’s early stages, as he utilized his height and reach advantage
well.
“The first round I think it was going back and forth, bult I think
I edged it out … I think he wanted to [make a statement] in the
second round,” St. Preux said. “He was waiting too much and he
pressured me. That’s what I wanted. He came in, and I caught him
with a good check hook.”
The connection left no doubt that the fight was over. Menifield
faceplanted on the canvas instantly, and St. Preux had his first KO
win since a head-kick finish of Corey
Anderson in 2017. Come year’s end, St. Preux’s work figures to
be at or near the top of many “Knockout of the Year” lists.
“When I’m in that position and I’m stepping off, I see everything
coming,” St. Preux said. “He overcommitted on his punches. His
coaches were telling him to actually ‘touch-touch’ and he was being
too aggressive. That’s what happened, being too aggressive he left
himself open, couldn’t come back. His chin was staring at me and I
was like, ‘Thank you.’”
After a brief stop at heavyweight and a split-decision loss to
Ben
Rothwell in May, St. Preux looks to be back on track at his
natural weight class. Though he seems to have settled into a role
as one of the division’s most reliable gatekeepers, the 37-year-old
has bigger goals in mind.
“My goals are never not on a title shot. I don’t have to rethink my
goals,” he said. “I know what I’m going at. I need that belt across
my waist. I’m making that run and making it happen real quick. As
long as I keep myself where I’m keeping myself right now, healthy.
There’s still a lot of other things I’m gonna work on – just fine
tune things. But other than that, I’ll be good.”
