The light heavyweight division seems 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 released an additional 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 intriguing light heavyweight bout between top-15 ranked 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 in the UFC and has settled into the role of gatekeeper in the light heavyweight division. OSP lost a clear decision to Dominick Reyes his last time out, but he submitted Tyson Pedro in impressive fashion his fight before that. He is 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 streak might end up being the high point of his MMA career. The Reyes battle was clearly a step backward, though, as was a submission defeat to Ilir Latifi that preceeded the Pedro win. OSP is a very 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 outing submitted Patrick Cummins. He had been knocked out by Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira his two fights before that, but the triumph over Cummins put 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 allowing him down , I think he has what it takes to conquer OSP. I simply find OSP such a bothersome fighter to predict how he’s going to do, while I think Cirkunov is a bit more steady. I would anticipate a competitive line, 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 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 leaving Cage Warriors as one of its best welterweight contenders. He made his Octagon introduction on quite short notice and has been 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 second battle, but it did not go his way. Despite entering that bout as a significant favorite, White was dominated by an aging Sanchez also it was the type of loss that created the UFC want to cut ties with White. But he does have one saving grace here, and it’s that Cage Warriors is on Fight Pass this past season. A couple of endings for White and he could well be signed back into the UFC, however he can fare much better as a middleweight heading forward. White’s opponent because of his return to Cage Warriors hasn’t been declared yet, but he will struggle at Cage Warriors 102, which such as UFC 235 also occurs March.
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