The light heavyweight division seems to have a resurgence in 2019 as yet another high profile bout involving ranked contenders will take place in the forthcoming months. That, and the UFC has introduced another fighter, and you can read my thoughts about each of the news below in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Ovince Saint-Preux vs. Misha Cirkunov, UFC 235
The UFC declared an interesting light heavyweight bout between top-15 rated contenders Ovince Saint-Preux and Misha Cirkunov will happen at UFC 235, going down March 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint-Preux (23-12) is 11-7 overall from the UFC and has settled into the role of gatekeeper in the light heavyweight division. OSP lost a clear choice to Dominick Reyes his out his time, but he filed Tyson Pedro in impressive fashion his fight before that. He’s not far removed from a three-fight win streak that included a KO over Corey Anderson and Von Flue chokes against Yushin Okami and Marcos Rogerio de Lima, though that run may prove to be the high point of his MMA career. The Reyes fight was certainly a step backward, though, as was a entry defeat to Ilir Latifi that preceeded that the Pedro win. OSP is a really good gatekeeper, but his days as a title contender appear to be over.
Cirkunov (14-4) is 5-2 at the UFC and in his final expedition filed Patrick Cummins. He was pumped out by Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira his two fights before this, but the win over Cummins put him back on track and reminded us all why the Latvian-Canadian was this impressive prospect. Now that he’s living in Las Vegas, this will be a hometown fight of sorts for him. Although I am worried about Cirkunov’s chin allowing him down , I think he has what it takes to beat OSP. I just find OSP such a frustrating fighter to predict how he’s going to do, while I think Cirkunov is a bit more steady. I would anticipate a competitive lineup, but with a little lean towards the fighter in Cirkunov.
Craig White Cut, Evidence With Cage Warriors
Former UFC welterweight Craig White has signed back with Cage Warriors, the promotion announced. Obviously, this means the UFC lately cut on him. White (14-9) had a rough go at the UFC after departing Cage Warriors among its top welterweight contenders. He made his Octagon debut on quite short notice and was finished by top-10 ranked Neil Magny, cutting upwards of 30lbs to create weight. The UFC gave him a favorable matchup from Diego Sanchez in his second battle, but it did not go his way. Despite entering that bout as a substantial favored, White was dominated by an aging Sanchez also it was the type of loss that created the UFC want to decrease ties with White. However, he does have one saving grace here, and it’s that Cage Warriors is on Fight Pass this year. A couple of finishes for White and that he could well be signed back to the UFC, however he may fare better as a middleweight heading forward. White’s competition because of his return to Cage Warriors has not been declared yet, but he’ll struggle at Cage Warriors 102, which like UFC 235 additionally occurs March.
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