The light heavyweight division looks to have a resurgence in 2019 as yet another high profile bout involving ranked contenders will take place in the forthcoming months. That, plus the UFC has introduced another fighter, and you can read my thoughts on 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 crystal clear decision to Dominick Reyes his last time out, but he submitted Tyson Pedro in remarkable fashion his struggle 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 might end up being the high point of his MMA career. The Reyes battle was certainly a step backward, however, as was a entry defeat to Ilir Latifi who preceeded the Pedro win. OSP is a really good gatekeeper, but his days as a title contender seem to be over.
Cirkunov (14-4) is 5-2 in the UFC and in his last expedition filed Patrick Cummins. He was pumped out by Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira his two fights before this, but the win over Cummins place 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 is going to be a hometown fight of sorts for him. Although I’m worried about Cirkunov’s chin letting him down , I still think he has what it takes to beat OSP. I just find OSP such a bothersome fighter to predict how he is going to do, while I believe Cirkunov is a bit more steady. I would anticipate a competitive lineup, but with a little lean towards the younger fighter in Cirkunov.
Craig White Cut, Signs With Cage Warriors
Former UFC welterweight Craig White has signed back with Cage Warriors, the promotion announced. Of course, this usually means the UFC recently cut him. White (14-9) had a rough go at the UFC after departing Cage Warriors as one of its best welterweight contenders. He left his Octagon debut on very short notice and was finished by top-10 rated Neil Magny, cutting upwards of 30lbs to create weight. The UFC gave him a favorable matchup from Diego Sanchez in his next fight, but it did not go his way. Despite entering this bout as a substantial favorite, White was dominated by an aging Sanchez and it was the kind of reduction that created the UFC wish to cut ties with White. But he does have one saving grace here, and it is that Cage Warriors is on Fight Pass this year. A few endings for White and that he could very well be signed back into the UFC, though he can 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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