Ovince Saint Preux

Ovince was born on 8 April 1983 in Immokalee, Florida, USA. He was born into a tight-knit Haitian-American community. He has six siblings.

His Father, Markinsie St. Preux, was a construction worker and farmer. He abandoned him and his mother, Mercilia, who was then 3 weeks away from giving birth to twins. Ovince’s family, like most families in the neighborhood, was extremely poor.

Ovince developed an interest towards sports and focused on developing his skills in athletics. During his high school days in Immokalee High School, he finished a wrestling fight with the score-line reading 26-1 in his favor. He also excelled in other sports. He was recruited by the University of Tennessee and hebecame a part of the defensive team during the 2001-2004 football seasons. He was dubbed as Defensive Football Player of the Year by Naples Daily News. Soon, he became a state level champion in 110 meters, 300 meters, discus throw and relay.

He graduated with a degree in sociology in 2004. He continued playing football and started training in boxing.

Ovince quit playing football and shifted his focus towards Martial Arts. He began his training at Knoxville Martial Arts Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee.Today, he is the chief trainer of the institute.

Ovince started his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career with Victory Fighting Championship (VFC), fighting against Rodney Wallace. After losing two consecutive fights, he registered his first win against Robert Turner. During the initial stages of his career, he started focusing on submission moves and eventually mastered a few.

He then participated in Strikeforce, a MMA and kickboxing organization. After back-to-back defeats, he returned to Strikeforce in 2010 with a 75-second technical knock-out against the much experienced Brett Chism. Ovince went on to wina match against Chris Hawk by using the same technique that he had employed against Brett. He won eight consecutive matches in Strikeforce.

In 2014, Ovince replaced an injured Jimi Manuwa to fight against Maurício Rua in UFC Fight Night 56. Ovince started off as an underdog as he was pitted against a seasoned fighterbut ended up winning the match.

Ovince lost to Glover Teixeira by submission on April 8, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 73.

On April 23, 2016, while fighting the light-heavyweight champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones in UFC 197, Ovince had his left arm broken in the second round, and yet he continued through all five rounds without letting anyone know that he was hurt.

Ovince’s nine victories since 2013 in the UFC light heavyweight competition are the most in the category.

Ovince has had success withthree out of the five Von Flue Choke submissions used in UFC history. Two of them were used in a row.

He stands second when it comes to winning by technical submission in the light heavyweight category.