Hitting a Road Block in Tennessee (UFC Fight Night 73 Review)
Some fighters come into the UFC with all the promise in the world but find a road block in the way of their success.
They enter the UFC largely because of their performances on smaller circuits or some major places and they get the chance to showcase their talent at the highest level.
No matter how good a fighter is the UFC presents a new challenge for everyone but it doesn’t just stop at entering the UFC.
A good fighter can handle the undercard fights against fighters that are not ranked and further away from the title.
As a fighter adds wins they move up the rankings and so they move up in talent to the multiple levels of talent in the UFC.
This is where fighters tend to have some major issues as they move up the levels easily but reach that top-level of some of the best fighters in their division and cannot get by anyone at that level.
Ovince St. Preux was beginning to experience this effect as he continued his young UFC career.
Entering the UFC in 2013 St. Preux had a 6-1 record as a member of Strikeforce and was coming in with plenty of promise.
The Haitian-born, Tennessee Volunteer had all of the ability to be a good UFC fighter with an NCAA background in wrestling and football at Tennessee he had the athletic ability to move through the rankings.
He did just that when he entered the UFC beating his first four opponents on his way up the rankings in the light heavyweight division.
Then he met that road block that so many other fighters have met as he moved up significantly in talent when he was schedule to take on Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night 47.
Not only was it a step up in talent but it was his first main event fight as all of the spotlight was on him taking on a seasoned veteran.
St. Preux could not get by Bader in the main event as he took the unanimous decision loss and had to restart the move up the rankings.
St. Preux looked to another very experienced fighter in his next fight as he took on the legendary Mauricio Rua.
That turned out to be a much more successful fight though as St. Preux earned the knockout win in the first round.
He did the same to Patrick Cummins in his next fight and seemed like he was getting used to the level of talent near the top five of the division.
So with that in mind he got another chance to move up in talent when he earned his second main event against Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 73.
It was another chance for St. Preux to prove he belonged just like the Bader fight was his first chance to prove he belonged among the contenders in the division.
Not only was it another big chance but this one was in front of his adopted home state in Tennessee.
There was plenty of reasons to step it up and show that he was ready to be mentioned among the top fighters in the light heavyweight division.
He needed to get through Teixeira to do so though and the Brazilian had his own reasons to step his game up after losing two straight fights including a title fight against Jon Jones.
Both fighters were also very similar in the way that they had both evolved in the sport as they had their base on the mat but evolved into two devastating strikers.
Teixeira had begun his career as a BJJ practitioner but showed plenty of power in his run up towards the UFC title shot.
He still had plenty of talent on the ground though and that was something that St. Preux had to keep in mind.
St. Preux himself was a wrestler that had some massive power that he used best in counter striking.
Both fighters faced off in what began as a standing exchange but was quickly turned into a grinding fight on the ground.
All of that thanks to Teixeira who looked to take the fight to the ground almost immediately and continue to do so throughout the fight.
It was clear that he believed that the wrestling of St. Preux was not good enough to challenge his BJJ.
He turned out to be right as St. Preux had no answer the smothering game of Teixeira and eventually it all came to an end.
In the third round Teixeira locked in a rear naked choke as St. Preux refused to tap but went to sleep forcing the fight to be stopped.
It was another disappointing loss for St. Preux who once again fell in the main event against another level up in talent.
He once again hit that road block but will be back and will learn from the loss as there is plenty of fight left in the Haitian.
For Teixeira it was a big win after two straight losses as the #4 fighter in the light heavyweight division it was another chance to make a run at the title.
The Sport Addiction 