Ovince Saint Preux to be Victorious in Japan

Ovince Saint Preux vs Yushin Okami

UFC Fight Night 117 Main Event – Light Heavyweight Bout

Ovince Saint Preux and Yushin Okami are the chosen headliners for the UFC’s return to Japan this weekend.

Saint Preux was originally booked to face off without Mauricio Rua in the main event before Rua suffered a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the contest. Now, Saint Preux will battle with Okami, who enters on short-notice to make his return to the UFC in front of his many fans in Japan.

 

Ovince Saint Preux

Record: 20-10
Height: 6’3″ (191cm)
Reach: 80.0″ (203cm)

“OSP” shocked everybody who was watching in his last bout in the UFC when he submitted Marcos Rogerio de Lima with a Von Flue choke in the second round. Saint Preux wasn’t finding much success on the feet with De Lima and made the most of a prime opportunity when he took De Lima down to the mat after a kick attempt.

The victory would snap a three-fight losing streak for Saint Preux, but admittedly he was fighting against some of the best light heavyweight’s that the UFC has to offer. After losing to Jon Jones at UFC 197, Saint Preux also lost to Jimi Manuwa and Volkan Oezdemir.

Yushin Okami

Record: 34-10
Height: 6’2″ (188cm)
Reach: 72.0″ (183cm)

Since losing to David Branch and Jon Fitch in World Series of Fighting through 2014 and 2015, Yushin Okami left WSOF and hasn’t competed in the same organization twice consecutively since then. Okami has managed four-straight wins through this time though and has recently picked up a split decision win in his return to WSOF against Paul Bradley and a decision win over Andre Lobato. He now returns to the UFC in an effort to put on a show for the Japanese fans.

Breakdown

Ovince Saint Preux’s constant movement and opportunistic takedown was what got him over the line against Marcos Rogerio de Lima. We can expect to see a similar Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night 117 as he looks to continually switch stances and move away from a closing Yushin Okami.

Yushin Okami normally can handle an opponent across any aspect of mixed martial arts but his performance will be severely limited as he moves up from welterweight to light heavyweight for this contest. Okami has previously competed at middleweight but has more recently only been competing at welterweight and this fight will represent a two-division jump for the Japanese mixed martial artist.

At first glance, it seems like an impossible task for Yushin Okami but it’s important to remember that Ovince Saint Preux isn’t necessarily one of the biggest light heavyweight’s around.

Prediction and Betting Strategy

This fight shouldn’t last long. One of these two guys are going to connect on each other’s chin cleanly and when they do, they’ll chase their opponent down to the mat and finish the fight. For clarity, I’ll be predicting that it’s Saint Preux who manages to finish Okami in round two.

Prediction: Ovince Saint Preux by KO/TKO – Round Two

Best Bet

Ovince Saint Preux vs Yushin Okami
Total Rounds – Under 1.5
Friday 22nd September – 11:55 pm (ET) /  3:55am GMT
Odds: 2.50Bet €100 to win €2503/2Bet £100 to win £250+150Bet $100 to win $2501.50Bet HK$100 to win HK$2501.50Bet Rp100 to win Rp250-0.6667Bet RM100 to win RM250  – Bet365