Ovince St Preux hurt his ankle following a kick in the first round which left him struggling to put weight on it, but he hung on in there and was still able to come out on top against Rafael ‘Feijao’ by unanimous decision tonight at UFC Fight Night 82.
Round One:
30 seconds passes by without a strike as OSP takes the center of the cage. Feijao with a quick leg kick. a minute down and OSP lands with a body kick.
Left hand from OSP, but Feijao blocks it. St Preux misses with a strike and gets counter with a right hand from Feijao.
OSP steps in with a right leg kick and immediately pulls back the leg in some discomfort. He may have hurt his foot as he’s now moving on it very gingerly.
Feijao recognizes his opponent is in some distress (it would be hard not to) and so he starts landing some heavy kicks to that right leg.
OSP checks one of those kicks which offers Feijao some kind of deterrent. St Preux not offering anything offensively now though. He tries to throw a punch, but almost falls off-balance.
Nevertheless OSP moves forward trying to make something happen but eats a punch. OSP’s all heart though and he’s still attempting to go on the offensive and it pays off as he rocks Feijao with a punch. That spurs OSP on and he starts unleashing more strikes as Feijao covers up.
Feijao goes to ground and OSP starts working on top, but the round comes to a close. Good work from St Preux under the circumstances.
Round Two:
OSP perhaps moving a little more freely to start the second round, but still doesn’t have full control over that right leg / foot. Not a lot happening and surprisingly Feijao isn’t trying to target that leg, or indeed do pretty much anything.
OSP with a left head kick attempt. Superman punch for Feijao. OSP with a couple of left hands that land. Front kick to the body from him now. Another one lands with power and he’s definitely got more confidence in that right foot now.
St Preux bundles Feijao to the mat. He’s working from in his guard for now close to the cage. A little ground and pound, but not too much. OSP will no doubt just be glad to have taken the weight of his feet for a while. A minute to go and OSP’s work rate picks up a bit with short shots.
Feijao offering very little from his back much as was the case on the feet. He needs to come out re-energized in the third round if he wants the win here.
Round Three:
Nice left hand from OSP, then a kick and more punches. Feijao responds this time though, throwing out a high kick.
OSP in on a takedown attempt, but Feijao stuffs it. OSP presses him against the cage, but Feijao is able to get away from that pressure.
Winging punch from Feijao. OSP wades in with a few punches and Feijao covers up as he puts his back to the cage. St Preux easily takes Feijao to the mat. He’s in half guard parallel to the cage and landing a few short right punches to the head.
Not a whole lot of offense from St Preux, but Feijao isn’t offering any real attempt to get back to his feet either. Feijao does manage to get back to full guard though.
Approaching a minute to go and Feijao tries to land a few strikes from the bottom. Fans getting very restless due to the lack of action. OSP will just be glad to get this fight out of the way given his foot injury. OSP stands up, then drops back down with a big punch.
10 seconds to go and that’s OSP’s cue to start unloading with big left and right hands. Feijao doesn’t like that and if St Preux had got that going 20 seconds earlier he may have found a finish. As it is the bell saves the Brazilian and we head to the scorecards.
Decision:
All credit to OSP for hanging tough after what’s revealed to actually be an ankle injury, while on reflection Feijao will surely feel that he could have done more to capitalize on the potential golden opportunity that presented him. In the end though it’s clearly a victory for St Preux, getting a unanimous decision verdict from the judges (30-27 x2, 29-28)
