Preview: UFC on ESPN 19 Main Card

Light Heavyweights

NR | Jamahal Hill (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. #15 LHW | Ovince St. Preux (25-14, 13-9 UFC)

ODDS: Hill (-160), St. Preux (+140)

This is a super-interesting veteran-versus-prospect matchup. For someone so seemingly dependent on their athleticism, it is a surprise that St. Preux is still chugging along at 37 years old and showing no signs of slowing down. St. Preux is an unorthodox fighter, to say the least. A former University of Tennessee linebacker, St. Preux stayed in Knoxville and never really developed a traditional style, instead putting together a strange bag of tricks held together by his speed and power. The whole package works much better than it has any right to, as illustrated by the fact that St. Preux somehow has three wins in the UFC via Von Flue choke. St. Preux’s last two bouts at light heavyweight have seen him turn away prospects Michael Oleksiejczuk and Alonzo Menifield, and he looks to make it three in a row here. Hill has improved rapidly during his year-plus under the Zuffa banner, showing some potential as a raw talent during his win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. Both there and in his UFC debut against Darko Stosic in January, Hill showed an effective boxing game that started off slow but got increasingly vicious and locked in as “Sweet Dreams” felt out his opponent. However, Hill made a leap in his last bout—a May win over Klidson Abreu. Hill no longer needed a feeling-out process and instead blasted Abreu with an even more diverse set of strikes on his way to a sub-two-minute finish. Hill definitely has the tools to make a run up the light heavyweight ladder; it is just a matter of when he will be ready to do so. This fight should go a long way towards providing some clarification. Hill’s UFC competition to date has been comprised of two plodding fighters, so St. Preux is the first opponent who can match him in terms of size and athleticism, all while providing some dangerous one-shot power. While this could just as easily go down as a statement win for Hill, when you add in the unorthodox nature of St. Preux’s game, “OSP” by first-round knockout becomes the pick.

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