Ovince Saint Preux Discusses Decision to Move up & Fight Massive Ben Rothwell

It’s not that uncommon to see a light-heavyweight move up to heavyweight. But, in the case of Ovince Saint Preux, he’s agreed to throw hands with one of the largest fighters under contract to the UFC.

So why is Saint Preux doing it? His coach likes the match-up.

Saint Preux weighs-in on fighting Ben Rothwell

Recently the UFC confirmed that Saint Preux has agreed to move up a weight class to battle Ben Rothwell on May 13th. The fight will mark the first time OSP has fought, since he tapped out Michal Oleksiejczuk in September.

If you’ve followed Saint Preux (24-13) over the years, you know he’s certainly not tiny for the 205 pound division. But, in Rothwell (37-12), he’s going to face 6’4 tall man, who will likely cut weight to make the 265 pound limit.

So why is OSP taking the fight? While talking to MMA Junkie recently about the upcoming match-up, the 37-year-old Saint Preux said this.

“I was supposed to fight him last week on the 25th, but that (fell) through,” Saint Preux said. “For some reason, I was thinking to myself that I knew for some reason they were going to call me for a heavyweight fight.

“… I don’t choose my fights. My head trainer, Eric Turner, always chooses the fights. He does more of the contact with my manager Oren (Hodak).

Oren told him, ‘Hey, look: (Ben) Rothwell lost his opponent.’ Eric was like, ‘Yeah that’s a good matchup for us.’”

Guess that makes sense right? You wouldn’t think his coach would want him taking the bout if he didn’t like OSP’s chances.

What will the weight difference be?

It will be interesting to see what OSP comes in at for the fight, and likewise for Rothwell (. While talking about the weight, and how much smaller he expects to be than Rothwell, Saint Preux said this.

“In the beginning of April, I was walking around 227 or 226,” Saint Preux said. “The weight cut was going to be no problem.

Now, I’m probably sitting around 230, 232. When fight time comes around, if I carb load, I might be around 235, 236 – around there.

“… It will definitely be a different experience just for the simple fact of the size and stuff. Typically when I enter the cage, I’m usually the bigger fighter.

There were only a couple occasions where I wasn’t. If I’m not the bigger fighter, I usually feel like the stronger fighter.

It’s just going to be a lot different this time. With him cutting down to 265, the next day he might be 275 or almost 280. I’m going to have to stay on my wheels. …

If I avoid the big shots, I think I’ll be OK.”

Yup. This probably isn’t a fight where Saint Preux should be standing and trading shots with his opponent in the pocket.

And what if OSP wins? And in impressive fashion? Chances are we’ll see him fight at heavyweight again.