Ovince Saint Preux and Shogun Rua fought for more than 34 seconds at UFC 274, but that was not appreciated by the crowd in attendance.
For what was very possibly his penultimate outing in the UFC, Shogun Rua was running it back with Ovince Saint Preux. The light heavyweight rematch, eight years in the making, came as part of the UFC 274 main card at the Phoenix, AZ-based event on Saturday night.
A former UFC light heavyweight champ and Pride legend, Rua was looking to bounce back from a loss in another rematch, to Paul Craig. OSP had lost two straight, and was returning to light heavyweight after losing to Tanner Boser up a weight class.
It was all kicks to start the fight as both men were peppering the other’s legs. Shogun then fired in a left hook that connected. Rua continued kicking the legs of OSP and there was not much offense coming from OSP’s side. It was a very uneventful first round.
OSP was going to a front kick to the body early on in the second round as both fighters seemed reluctant to throw hands. Shogun was able to connect with a left hook not long after the start of the round. Saint Preux was hit with a right hand and didn’t send anything Shogun ate a body kick and landed a leg kick. OSP began throwing strikes near the end of the round, but the lack of urgency was concerning heading into the final round.
Saint Preux started the round with a clinch and a kick. OSP was showing more aggression in the final round, but the fight was still underwhelming in general with kicks from distance being the weapon of choice for both fighters. Saint Preux landed a left hook and a body kick. The fight came to an end to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Ovince Saint Preux def. Shogun Rua by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
