If at first you don’t succeed, try, try booking the fight again. That’s the path the UFC is taking with Ovince Saint Preux and Philipe Lins, who now have a new date as part of the promotion’s February 18, 2023 Fight Night event.
MMA Fighting was first to report the news. Cageside Press confirmed the booking with a source familiar with the situation.
Saint Preux (26-16) and Lins were originally expected to face off on in November 2021, only for OSP to pull out of the fight. They were booked again as part of UFC 282 earlier this month; this time, it was Lins who was forced to withdraw.
Ovince Saint Preux, meanwhile, never did fight on the December 10 card, after a full three opponents fell through. Fingers crossed he gets his fight this time.
OSP last competed in May, winning a split decision against the legendary Shogun Rua. The win snapped a two-fight skid, with one of those match-ups coming at heavyweight against Tanner Boser. The other came against current 205lb title contender Jamahal Hill.
Lins, a former PFL heavyweight champ, made the move to light heavyweight earlier this year, picking up a win over Marcin Prachnio. That fight was his first win, and first action, since back-to-back losses to heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser in 2020. The Brazilian then saw no fewer than six fights fall through between 2020 and the Prachio fight, and another handful fall apart in the months since.
The UFC’s February 18, 2023 event is due for the Apex in Las Vegas with the following fights reported thus far:
- Taila Santos vs. Erin Blanchfield
- Gabriel Benitez vs. Jim Miller
- William Knight vs. Marcin Prachino
- Themba Gorimbo vs. Billy Goff
- Evan Elder vs. Nazim Sadykhov
- Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Joe Solecki
- Juancamilo Ronderos vs. Clayton Carpenter
- Abus Magomedov vs. Gerald Meerschaert
- Philipe Lins vs. Ovince Saint Preux
