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In the co-main event of tonight's UFC Fight Night: Smith vs Teixeira in Jacksonville, Florida, Ovince St. Preux made his debut in the heavyweight division and was paired against the hard-hitting Ben Rothwell.
Heading into the fight, Rothwell had secured a dominant win over the veteran Stefan Struve in December of 2019 and was certainly aiming to extend his winning streak in the Octagon. As for OSP, the former light heavyweight star headed into the event with a win over Michael Oleksiejczuk.
Ben Rothwell extends UFC winning streak by besting Ovince St. Preux
The fight initially started-off in a slow pace with OSP pretty much trying to adjust himself in heavyweight surroundings, as there was very little action from the first five minutes of the fight. However, Rothwell did catch St. Preux with his traditional choke but the latter managed to escape, bringing an end to round-one.
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The second round was more of Rothwell, as the veteran heavyweight caught the newcomer with hard-hitting strikes and also utilized his grappling skills. OSP was clearly struggling throughout the round but did catch the former with an unexpected left hand in the closing stages.
As we entered the final five minutes of the fight, Rothwell continued his dominance in the early stages, catching OSP with numerous strikes and continued working on his grappling. OSP, however, did manage to escape almost every time and landed some hard shots of his own, as well.
The fight ended with a wild back-and-forth between the two, with OSP being the dominant of the two and also managing to bring Rothwell down to one knee but it was after the buzzer went off. Rothwell went on to secure the win via UD (). 'Big Ben' further went on to call-out Aleksei Oleinik for his next fight.
