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Ovince St Preux is fighting in Thompson-Boling Arena Friday night as part of the first ever pro MMA show in Tennessee (XFC 7). If you go to buy tickets online and type XTREME as the promo code you get $10 off tickets. Should be fun. His opponent is planning on wearing a Tebow jersey to the cage. St. Preux isn't the one I anticipated going into mma. What UT players would make the scariest opponent inside the cage?
I'll go Albert Toeaina. As for current Vols...can't pick against Big Vlad.
Here is a story on St. Preux's transition to MMA:
Ovince St. Preux never made it to the NFL. Instead, the former Tennessee defensive end and linebacker is trying to make waves as a professional athlete in a very different, and growing, sport.
St. Preux will be competing on the University of Tennessee campus yet again on Friday, this time as a professional mixed martial artist, as part of the Xtreme Fighting Championship's "School of Hard Knox" event at Thompson-Boling Arena.
This will be the first sanctioned professional MMA event in Tennessee.
"It's the hometown crowd so it's pretty good," St. Preux said. "I can't complain about it."
So how did St. Preux make the transition from competing on the gridiron to stepping inside the cage? It all started in 2006, with his football days well behind him. St. Preux wanted to find a way to stay in shape, and a fraternity brother invited him to tag along to what both thought was a kickboxing class.
It turned out to be a class in mixed martial arts training.
"While I was in class and what not, kicking and punching, I was like, 'OK, this seems really cool. I like it,' " St. Preux recalled. "My (eventual) trainer, Eric Turner, he told me, 'Well, OK, we'll work on submissions and holds.' Later on he says, 'Let's work on grappling.' "
After getting a taste of mixed martial arts, St. Preux started to pursue additional training. Formerly a standout amateur wrestler in high school, St. Preux made his professional debut last May, and carries a 1-2 record into Friday's fight.
While working at a nightclub to help pay the bills, St. Preux's preparation for a fight involves four MMA training sessions per week, along with three workouts and two or three cardio sessions. It certainly accomplishes that aforementioned goal to keep him in shape. Listed at 240 pounds in the final year of his career at UT, St. Preux now competes in the light heavyweight division, which has a 205-pound weight limit.
"Cardio-wise, it's different because in football, you're pushing yourself hard for five or six seconds, and then you get 25 or 30 seconds rest before the next play gets started. With mixed martial arts, it's just a fast pace," St. Preux explained. "In football, it's a longevity type of deal because the game can be two or three hours. In mixed martial arts, it's going to be not even 30 minutes at most. It's probably a total of 18 minutes if you want to put the breaks in between there."
St. Preux faces CT Turner, an undefeated pro. Known as either "The Hulk" or "Louisville Slugger", Turner has being doing some top-notch trash talk to hype the fight. Turner boasted he would destroy St. Preux "like the Florida Gators destroyed Tennessee in football." There's also talk he will wear a Tim Tebow jersey during his entrance Friday.
"I heard he's a pretty big guy. Pretty aggressive and what not," St. Preux said. "Basically, it's a good matchup."
Few individuals can say they've won a professional MMA fight, or made a tackle in front of 100,000-plus at Neyland Stadium. St. Preux has done both. Which begs the question, which is better?
"I'd put them both up on the same pedestal," St. Preux said.
John Moorehouse is a sports writer for the Times-News. Read the complete transcript of his interview with Ovince St. Preux on Moorehouse's "Orange Clockwork" blog at Kingsport Times-News Online - Kingsport, Tennessee Breaking News and Information
I'll go Albert Toeaina. As for current Vols...can't pick against Big Vlad.
Here is a story on St. Preux's transition to MMA:
Ovince St. Preux never made it to the NFL. Instead, the former Tennessee defensive end and linebacker is trying to make waves as a professional athlete in a very different, and growing, sport.
St. Preux will be competing on the University of Tennessee campus yet again on Friday, this time as a professional mixed martial artist, as part of the Xtreme Fighting Championship's "School of Hard Knox" event at Thompson-Boling Arena.
This will be the first sanctioned professional MMA event in Tennessee.
"It's the hometown crowd so it's pretty good," St. Preux said. "I can't complain about it."
So how did St. Preux make the transition from competing on the gridiron to stepping inside the cage? It all started in 2006, with his football days well behind him. St. Preux wanted to find a way to stay in shape, and a fraternity brother invited him to tag along to what both thought was a kickboxing class.
It turned out to be a class in mixed martial arts training.
"While I was in class and what not, kicking and punching, I was like, 'OK, this seems really cool. I like it,' " St. Preux recalled. "My (eventual) trainer, Eric Turner, he told me, 'Well, OK, we'll work on submissions and holds.' Later on he says, 'Let's work on grappling.' "
After getting a taste of mixed martial arts, St. Preux started to pursue additional training. Formerly a standout amateur wrestler in high school, St. Preux made his professional debut last May, and carries a 1-2 record into Friday's fight.
While working at a nightclub to help pay the bills, St. Preux's preparation for a fight involves four MMA training sessions per week, along with three workouts and two or three cardio sessions. It certainly accomplishes that aforementioned goal to keep him in shape. Listed at 240 pounds in the final year of his career at UT, St. Preux now competes in the light heavyweight division, which has a 205-pound weight limit.
"Cardio-wise, it's different because in football, you're pushing yourself hard for five or six seconds, and then you get 25 or 30 seconds rest before the next play gets started. With mixed martial arts, it's just a fast pace," St. Preux explained. "In football, it's a longevity type of deal because the game can be two or three hours. In mixed martial arts, it's going to be not even 30 minutes at most. It's probably a total of 18 minutes if you want to put the breaks in between there."
St. Preux faces CT Turner, an undefeated pro. Known as either "The Hulk" or "Louisville Slugger", Turner has being doing some top-notch trash talk to hype the fight. Turner boasted he would destroy St. Preux "like the Florida Gators destroyed Tennessee in football." There's also talk he will wear a Tim Tebow jersey during his entrance Friday.
"I heard he's a pretty big guy. Pretty aggressive and what not," St. Preux said. "Basically, it's a good matchup."
Few individuals can say they've won a professional MMA fight, or made a tackle in front of 100,000-plus at Neyland Stadium. St. Preux has done both. Which begs the question, which is better?
"I'd put them both up on the same pedestal," St. Preux said.
John Moorehouse is a sports writer for the Times-News. Read the complete transcript of his interview with Ovince St. Preux on Moorehouse's "Orange Clockwork" blog at Kingsport Times-News Online - Kingsport, Tennessee Breaking News and Information
