OSP threw his name into the hat when he heard Patrick Cummins was out of UFC 217, and now the light heavyweight contender is set to fight Corey Anderson at the November event.
Ovince Saint Preux said he wanted to fight Corey Anderson, and his wish has – very quickly – come true. Saint Preux directly informed Anderson via Twitter early Thursday afternoon that he was available to fight “Overtime” at UFC 217. Anderson was set to fight Patrick Cummins at the event, but “Durkin” pulled out with a staph infection earlier this week.
Almost exactly four hours after Saint Preux tweeted his fellow UFC light heavyweight, Newsday.com reported that Saint Preux has filled in for Cummins and will take on Anderson at the November pay-per-view event.
UFC officials have not yet confirmed the news.
Saint Preux (21-10) is coming off a first-round submission win over Yushin Okami in the UFC Fight Night 117 main event in September. He is 3-3 in his last six Octagon outings dating back to early 2016, including wins over Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Rafael Cavalcante, as well as a three-fight stretch of losses to Jon Jones, Jimi Manuwa, and Volkan Oezdemir.
Anderson (9-3), who won The Ultimate Fighter 19 in July 2014, lost to Manuwa by first-round knockout in his last bout. Prior to that, all in 2016, he finished Sean O’Connell, came up short against Mauricio Rua, and bested Tom Lawlor by decision. Anderson is 6-3 in the UFC overall.
It’s not yet clear where on the card Saint Preux vs. Anderson will take place. Anderson vs. Cummins was scheduled for the early preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass, but Saint Preux is ranked higher than ‘Durkin,’ whom ‘OSP’ knocked out two years ago. So, the new matchup may be promoted to the televised prelims on FOX Sports 1.
UFC 217 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 4. In the main event, middleweight champion Michael Bisping defends his title for the second time against former 170-pound titleholder Georges St-Pierre. Also on the card, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk defend their belts against ex-champ T.J. Dillashaw and top contender Rose Namajunas, respectively.