Ovince Saint Preux Left Without Opponent after Ilir Latifi suffers Injury

After suffering a three-fight rough patch in 2016 to early 2017, Ovince Saint Preux has turned things around rather impressively and completely reversed that trend with three straight dominant wins. With all the momentum one could ask for, OSP was all well and ready to carry it over into the new year. OSP is set to take on Ilir Latifi at UFC on Fox 27 this month and…well…according to Saint Preux, Latifi has sustained an injury, therefore, putting him on the search for a new opponent.

. @Latifimma is hurt & out of our scrap next Sat in Charlotte, NC #UFConFOX27 who wants to step up and scrap? I’m even open to going up in weight if NO guys in my division will step up? Looking for someone to do what I do: step up and fight… pic.twitter.com/lvznRvE22I

— Ovince Saint Preux (@003_OSP) January 17, 2018

. @Latifimma is hurt & out of our scrap next Sat in Charlotte, NC #UFConFOX27 who wants to step up and scrap? I’m even open to going up in weight if NO guys in my division will step up? Looking for someone to do what I do: step up and fight…

The former interim light heavyweight title challenger, Saint Preux fought a whole four times in 2017 and is still ready to get things off to a fast start in 2018. The man just wants a fight! He’s had his sights set on Latifi since his last fight where he called him out in his post-fight interview and his wish was granted. Now that that won’t be the case, it will be interesting to see who if anyone will fill in. Saint Preux vs Latifi was the only light heavyweight bout on the card as well as the fight in the heaviest weight class out of the rest of January 27’s action.

Latifi fought once in 2017 when he defeated the young prospect, Tyson Pedro at UFC 215. This was Latifi’s first appearance after suffering a devasting knockout to current Bellator champion, Ryan Bader. Which so happened to be a fight that Latifi was doing pretty well in.

There aren’t too many options at light heavyweight for OSP. Will he have to resort to taking on a heavyweight? Will anyone fill in at all?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/16/2018.