A light heavyweight fight has been added to the UFC’s first event in December 2020.
Longtime 205-pound staple Ovince Saint Preux returns to action Dec. 5 against Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus Jamahal Hill. The event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Multiple sources recently informed MMA Junkie of the fight but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Cageside Press was the first to report the news.
Saint Preux (25-14 MMA, 15-10 UFC) picked up a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus in his most recent fight after knocking out Alonzo Menifield. The victory was Saint Preux’s return to both the win column and the light heavyweight division after a heavyweight split decision loss to Ben Rothwell in May.
Hill (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has won both of his UFC appearances to date after punching his ticket into the UFC on DWCS, Season 3 in 2019. After defeating Darko Stosic in his debut, Hill finished Klidson Abreu with strikes in 1:51 in May.
Update: Shortly after the news of the booking surfaced, Saint Preux announced on Twitter he’s signed a new contract with the UFC in addition to his bout agreement.
🚨 FIGHT NEWS 🚨
Just signed a new contract with UFC and I’ll be back in action December 5th.
📷 @davefretz
📝 @ko_reps
🥊 @knoxvillemma pic.twitter.com/tDXlatD5eY— Ovince Saint Preux (@003_OSP) October 21, 2020
With the addition, the Dec. 5 lineup includes:
- Jack Hermansson vs. Darren Till
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cody Stamann
- Bethe Correia vs. Yanan Wu
- Jake Collier vs. Gian Villante
- Maryna Moroz vs. Taila Santos
- Cody Durden vs. Jimmy Flick
- John Allan vs. Roman Dolidze
- Jamahal Hill vs. Ovince Saint Preux
