When Strikeforce was finally folded and the majority of the roster — or at least the top end of the roster — was brought into the UFC, many MMA fans rejoiced at knowing that we would get to see new and interesting match-ups. Fights between men like….Strikeforce vets Gian Villante and Ovince St. Preux.
Long Island Newsday with the info:
Gian Villante will fight as close to home as the laws of New York State will permit.
Villante, from Levittown, will fight Ovince St. Preux at UFC 159 on April 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Newsday has learned. Both fighters, formerly of Strikeforce, have verbally agreed to the bout. The fight will most likely air on the FX prelims portion of the card.
Jokes about seeing a fight that could have easily taken place in Strikeforce aside, this is a perfectly reasonable match-up. St. Preux had run up four consecutive Strikeforce wins before getting a chance to step up against Gegard Mousasi in a fight that did not go his way. He rebounded last August with a knockout of T.J. Cook.
Villante had started in Strikeforce at heavyweight and lost to Chad Griggs, prompting a move to 205 where he dropped a decision to Lorenz Larkin. Since the back-to-back losses, Gian has rattled off three straight wins.
With roster space short, winning these type of fights is a big deal, so there will be a lot riding on this fight.
UFC 159 is headlined by Jon Jones defending his UFC light heavyweight title against Chael Sonnen.