LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 23: (RL) Jon Jones hits Ovince Saint Preux in their UFC interim light … [+]
Ovince Saint Preux had his last UFC fight in October, losing to Ryan Spann via first-round submission, but the 41-year-old isn’t done fighting.
OSP has signed with new MMA promotion, Global Fight League (GFL), according to its official website. The GFL will launch in 2025 with a team-based concept, making headlines with its roster mostly featuring big-name fighters competing at an advanced age.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – OCTOBER 04: Ovince Saint Preux poses at the scales during UFC 307 … [+]
OSP fits that concept, but he’s not the oldest fighter on the roster. While the exact details are unknown, Wanderlei Silva is also on the list at the age of 48.
During OSP’s 16-year, 45-fight professional MMA career, he has amassed a 27-18 record with 20 finishes. In his prime, OSP fought Jon Jones for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas at UFC 197 in 2018.
Jones won that fight by unanimous decision and went on to defeat Daniel Cormier to regain the undisputed title.
Leading up to the Jones fight, OSP began his UFC career with a 7-2 record, with his only losses coming against Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. The loss to Jones marked the beginning of a three-fight losing streak that included a brutal knockout by Jimi Manuwa and a split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir.
OSP rebounded with a three-match winning streak over Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Yushin Okami and Corey Anderson. However, he was never able to sustain a strong enough run to get back into the championship race.
During his UFC career, OSP became known as a bonus machine, racking up nine performance bonuses. As he enters this new chapter of his MMA career, he may have an opportunity to capture the gold that eluded him in the UFC.
As it stands, the GFL’s heavyweight division is not filled with fighters who appear to be a mismatch for OSP. One could argue that he looks like the strongest fighter in the division, which currently includes Alexander Gustafsson, Thiago Santos, Cleiton Silva, Da Woon Jung, Emiliano Sordi, Grant Neal and Rafael Carvalho.
We’ll see which team OSP will be drafted into and how the promotion plans to determine matches and individual championships. Once that information is available, we’ll have a better idea of how OSP and others signed to the promotion will fit into the GFL.
Based on information from the promotion’s website, the following fighters are part of the roster:
Heavy weight
- Alan Belcher
- Alexander Maslov
- Alexey Oleinik
- Andrei Arlovski
- Fabrício Werdum
- Frank Mir
- Junior dos Santos
- Oli Thompson
- Greg Hardy
- Guto Inocente
- Philip Lins
- Robelis Despaigne
- Rogers Souza
- Stuart Austin
- Tanner Boser
Light heavyweight
- Alexander Gustafsson
- Clayton Silva
- Emiliano Sordi
- Ilir Latifi
- Rafael Carvalho
- Thiago Santos
- Da Woon Jung
Middle weight
- Gegard Mousasi
- Chauncey Foxworth
- Glaico France
- Hector Lombard
- Jared Revel
- Joseph Wittner
- Kyle Daukaus
- Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz
- Luke Rockhold
- Marcus Perez
- Phil Hawes
- Wanderlei Silva
Light weight
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov
- Austin Tweedy
- Adilet Nurmatov
- Benson Henderson
- Danny Mitchell
- Dominick Meriweather
- Francisco Trinaldo
- Joao Zeferino
- Joseph Wittner
- Jordan Mein
- Julio Spadaccini
- Michael Irizarry
- Rousimar Palhares
- Saves Machado
- Tyron Woodley
Easy
- Amirkhon Alikhuzhaev
- Aaron McKenzie
- Anthony Pettis
- Alex Oliveira
- Ayton De Paepe
- Charles Rose
- Feruz Usmonov
- Gabriel Souza Galindo
- Ayinda Nah Octave Tiphaine
- Christian Giagos
- Benson Henderson
- Ayinda Octave
- Jefferson Pontes
- Jeremy Stephens
- John Makdessi
- Kevin Lee
- Killys Mota
- Lucas Martins
- Mohamed Tarek Mohey
- Oscar Ownsworth
- Raimundo Batista
- Sidney Outlaw
- Stephen Beaumont
- Will Brooks
- William Lima
- Yan Cabral
Feather weight
- Alexsandro Lopes Cangaty
- Bubba Jenkins
- Andrew Harrison
- Claudeci Brito
- Deberson Batista
- Lance Palmer
- Marcel Adur
- Marcelo Dias
- Marlon Moraes
- Mohammad Abzakh
- Patrizio de Souza Janurario
- Renan Oliveira
Small weight
- Cameron Else
- Denis Palancica
- Diego Teixeira
- Jimmy Rivera
- Marciano Ferreira
- Omar Arteaga
- Renan Barão
- Marcus Paulo Amaral
Women’s bantamweight
- Alexa Conners
- Queila Braga
- Pannie Kianzad
- Tonya Evinger
Women’s Flyweight
- Chiara Penco
- Kalindra Faria
- Miao Ding
Straw weight for women
- Bi Nguyen
- Viviane Pereira
- Silvania Monteiro
- Hannah Goldy
- Jessica Penne
- Kayla Hraço
