Ovince St-Preux steps in to face Jon Jones at UFC 197

UFC 197 has a new main event tonight as Ovince St-Preux comes in on short notice to fight pound-for-pound king Jon Jones in a 5-round light-heavyweight interim title attraction. UFC president Dana White announced the news on ESPN tonight.

St-Preux is being drafted in after 205 lbs champion Daniel Cormier was forced out of the fight earlier in the weekend due to injury.

A former collegiate football player, OSP came to the UFC when Strikeforce was bought out in 2013 with 12-5 record and won his first four fights inside the Octagon. Losses to Ryan Bader and Glover Texeira followed that but wins over Shogun Rua, Pat Cummins and, last time out, Rafael Feijao have the Miami native currently ranked at number 6 in the UFC light-heavyweight rankings.

This will be Jones’ first fight back since he was stripped of his title following a hit-and-run incident where the pregnant female occupant of the car he hit was left with a broken arm. On paper, it looks like a pretty straightforward tune-up bout while Daniel Cormier recovers.

UFC 197 takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 24th and will also feature Demetrious Johnson’s latest title defence against fellow flyweight, and Olympic wrestling gold medallist, Henry Cejudo.

Video via: Fancy MMA