UFC 174 Date: June 14, 2014 Arena: Rogers Arena City: Vancouver, B.C., Canada Light heavyweight bout: Ovince St. Preux (-145) vs Ryan Jimmo (+135) Fight Breakdown: Getting the action going for the UFC 174 main card on Pay Per View will be a match-up between two heavy hitters in the light heavyweight division, and action is expected when Ovince St. Preux looks to extend his winning streak against Canada’s own Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo. St. Preux is the favorite in this bout at -145 ($145 to win $100), with Jimmo being an underdog at +135 ($100 to win $135) at Several Bookmakerss. Ovince St. Preux (15-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is coming off a very impressive first round submission victory over Nikita Krylov at UFC 171 three months ago. He took Krylov down and immediately went into side control, with the Russian latching onto his neck with a half-hearted guillotine attempt. Sr. Preux capitalized on the mistake by locking up a Von Flue Choke and putting the 21-year old to sleep. The win makes it three in a row for him inside the Octagon, and follows another impressive first round finish, which came via knockout against Cody Donovan, in what was one of the most brutal displays of ground and pound I have seen. He is very dangerous from top position, nobody wants to end up in his guard, regardless of how good your ground game is, because one punch from him could be all it takes. You may have heard about one punch turning a black belt into a brown belt, but with St. Preux, one punch could turn a black belt into a white belt. Not only is he incredibly dangerous from top position, but ground-and-pound happens to be his single most favorite aspect of MMA. The 30-year old possesses serious power in his hands, as is evident by the fact that nearly half of his career wins have come via T/KO. He now has back-to-back highlight finishes, plus a unanimous decision victory over fellow Strikeforce veteran Gian Villante, so a win over Jimmo will be big for the Haitian, likely putting him right in the mix of things in what is a very thin light heavyweight division. After consecutive failed attempts at playing football professionally, OSP found mixed martial arts, and immediately fell in love. The former Tennesse Volunteer is a phenomenal athlete and is continuously improving as a fighter. His main flaw would be in his striking game, as he is a striker who lacks knowledge and experience in the department. He is not a technical striker by any stretch of the imagination, and while he is very powerful, he often makes the mistake of packing all of his power behind every punch he throws, which results in him getting tired more quickly than he should. The Strikeforce veteran also has a bad tendency of keeping his chin up while striking, which could spell for trouble against a striker like Jimmo, who is both powerful and technically sound. The Haitian has a great sprawl and solid takedown defense. St. Preux is currently enjoying a four-fight winning streak, and has sandwiched 12 wins around a lone decision loss to “The Armenian Assassin” in Gegard Mousasi. He is constantly improving in every aspect of the sport, even his cardio. He has not gone 15 minutes since the Mousasi bout, but I expect him to be prepared for a hard three rounds against Jimmo, should the fight hit the judges’ scorecards. Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo (19-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) lost his very first professional bout in 2007, and then went on to win his next 16 fights, earning himself a call from Joe Silva for a shit in the UFC. His promotional debut went better than he could have wished for, as he knocked out his opponent Anthony Perosh with the very punch he threw at only seven seconds into the contest. In his next Octagon outing, he took on James Te-Huna, and nearly scored another first round finish. He hurt Te-Huna with a headkick and pounced on him for the finish. He gave it his all to finish the New Zealand native, but Te-Huna survived and came back to win rounds two and three, because Jimmo had emptied his gas tank trying to finish him in the first. Many watching the fight had scored it a draw, but the judges’ gave the nod to Te-Huna. It was a valuable lesson learned for Jimmo, who is a fighter who has generally had a great fight IQ. The 32-year old is now coming off an impressive first round knockout over promotional newcomer and fellow MFC vet Sean O’Connell at the TUF: Nations Finale just a couple of months ago. He now makes a quick turnaround and looks to make it two in a row inside the Octagon, as he prepares for the challenging test ahead of him that is defeating the very athletic and powerful Ovince St. Preux. “Big Deal” followed the Te-Huna loss with a unanimous decision victory over Igor Pokrajac, in a very uneventful match-up. He played it smart and grinded out a victory to ensure his stay in the promotion, which speaks for his aforementioned fight IQ. Jimmo fights smart and finds the best game plans to use against his opponents. He does not care what he does in the fight, as long as he walks away with the victory. Aside from emptying his tank in the first round of the Te-Huna bout, he generally has good conditioning and is able to go 15 minutes without a problem. Jimmo is a very talented striker with a background in American Kickboxing and Karate. He is a powerful striker, but is also very technically sound on the feet. He is a rare fighter, in the sense that he is both a point-scorer and a knockout-artist. The Canadian loves using his kicks, and has a variety of them in his arsenal he likes to employ. He likes going for the legs, body, and high to the head. Jimmo is a powerful fighter who is strong in the clinch, especially when pressuring opponents’ up against the cage. He used to train out of the Blackzilians camp in Boca Raton, F.L., but made the move to Power MMA in Arizona, because his style of American Kickboxing was not meshing with the style of Dutch Kickboxing they were using at the Blackzilian’s with head striking coach Henri Hooft. He’s found a new home in Arizona, and has looked great since making the move. Gabe’s Thoughts: The biggest question for me is whether Jimmo will be able to defend OSP’s takedown attempts. I think he will, but the real question is, will he be able to defend all of them? I feel OSP will manage to score at least one takedown per round, which could tilt things in his favor when it comes to the judges’ scorecards. If the fight stays on the feet, Jimmo will have the advantage. If it comes a dirty boxing match and clinching-up against the cage, which is what I am expecting, then I expect it to be very close, with a slight edge to the more athletic and powerful OSP. In such a case where the action is so close, combined with OSP mixing in those takedowns, I think he can effectively seal rounds. I favor OSP to get his hand raised in this bout via decision, but I feel out of the two hard-hitting light heavyweights, he is the one to more likely score a finish. I would not be surprised if Jimmo connects and puts him away. I just think it’s very unlikely. Another thing that won’t surprise me is if the judges’ award Jimmo a decision that OSP deserves, as the fight is in his home country of Canada. While both light heavyweights are very talented, I think OSP has the brighter future in the division, and will be backing him in this match-up. Gabe’s Call: OSP by Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) Gabe’s Recommended Play: OSP (-145) 2.9u to win 2u
