Three strikes, “OSP” is out.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tried its damndest to keep light heavyweight veteran Ovince Saint Preux attached to the UFC 282 pay-per-view (PPV) fight card on Sat. night (Dec. 10) in Las Vegas, but all three opponents who put pen to paper — Alexander Gustafsson, Philipe Lins, and Antonio Trocoli — eventually fell by the wayside for various reasons.
Not surprisingly, Trocoli was promptly released by the promotion (yet again) in the wake of his late withdrawal, according to MMA Fighting.
The 32 year-old Brazilian was already on shaky ground. “Malvado” (12-3, 1 NC) captured a UFC contract on Dana White’s “Contender Series” then promptly failed his post-fight drug test for nandrolone. With just a couple of days before fight night, it appears matchmakers had no luck securing a fourth light heavyweight for “OSP” based on a recent update from Nolan King.
Saint Preux (26-16) has dropped three of his last five and suffered second-round knockouts in two of those three losses. The former Strikeforce attraction, now 39, has also competed at 265 pounds but was planning to return to light heavyweight for UFC 282. Instead, he’ll be forced to watch all the PPV action from cageside and will hopefully receive his “show” purse for the effort.
To see the revised UFC 282 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
