Ovince Saint Preux says UFC 249 heavyweight move not permanent, estimates 40-pound differential

Ovince Saint Preux is moving to heavyweight, but don’t expect him to stay there forver.

The move seemingly came out of nowhere, especially considering Saint Preux’s most recent fight was a win over Michal Oleksiejczuk in September. However, Saint Preux (24-13 MMA, 13-8 UFC) said the idea is one he’s played around with for awhile.

“I was supposed to fight him last week on the 25th, but that (fell) through,” Saint Preux recently told MMA Junkie. “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.’”

A longtime member of the promotion’s 205-pound division, Saint Preux will take on one of the UFC’s largest fighters, Rothwell, on May 13. Saint Preux expects the size differential between him and Rothwell to be evident. It might take some getting used to.

“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.”

The move, Saint Preux said, is temporary. He may dabble at heavyweight from time to time, but indicated his light heavyweight days aren’t over.

“It’s definitely not permanent,” Saint Preux said. “If there’s an opportunity for me to bounce up and down, I’ll definitely do that.”

Known for his signature “Von Flue” choke, Saint Preux thinks he can still pull it off agains the big boys. It might be a little more difficult at UFC 249, especially dealing with the awkward “go-go choke” Rothwell (37-12 MMA, 7-6 UFC) as made one of his signature moves.

“He has a good guillotine – but his guillotine is a little different,” Saint Preux said. “I don’t know if I want to commit to something like that, just because his guillotine is a little different.”

Saint Preux isn’t gunning for a submission, however. “Knocking out a heavyweight” is a bucket list item Saint Preux wants to check off.

“For me to go up to heavyweight, my prediction is I definitely want to knock out a heavyweight,” Saint Preux said. “That’d be good.”

The May 13 card (which does not have an official name) will take place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It will be the UFC’s second event back after suspending all cards to the coronavirus pandemic, with UFC 249 on May 9 being the first.