Shogun Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux: What We Learned from Light Heavyweight Tilt

Ovince Saint Preux was in the right place at the right time. He jumped at the opportunity to take a short-notice bout against Mauricio Rua and walked out of the Octagon with a 34-second victory on Saturday. As the Brazilian crowd looked on in silence, they were witness to a number of different lessons from the UFC Fight Night 56 main event.  

The first lesson took less than a few moments to recognize: Saint Preux was ready to leap into the “deep waters” on late notice. Rua was caught losing his footing when OSP was about to pounce on him to finish the former champion via strikes. Rua tried to quickly get back to his feet, but he could not stop his opponent from pouncing for the finish. OSP looked just as shocked as the packed crowd as he danced around the cage in celebration.

This result reflects the close odds that were being posted coming into this fight. Even media professionals such as James Lynch of Sportsnet were not caught off guard with the win:

Second, the mixed martial arts community once again witnessed another all-time great go down in violent fashion. This is Shogun's fifth loss since losing the 205-pound title to Jon Jones back in 2011. Of those five defeats, the last two have been by devastating TKO.

We have seen UFC President Dana White step in for competitors such as Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell to keep them out of the cage; perhaps it is time for him to do the same with Rua.

Third, the UFC may have received an early Christmas present with the rise of Saint Preux. Leading up to the fight, the promotion pushed his college football career with the Tennessee Volunteers. The hyperbole provided by the UFC machine created the story that Saint Preux was a star player in every definition of the term. However, according to his alma mater, the UFC light heavyweight only earned three solo tackles during his two seasons on the team.

This fact did not go without notice by the media members who cover mixed martial arts:

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Did they really just show OSP's Tennessee jersey hanging in a locker between Peyton Manning's and Reggie White's? Who you kidding here?

— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) November 9, 2014"

Saint Preux will forever remember UFC Fight Night 56 as the moment he defeated a legend in mixed martial arts. This win opened the sports community's eyes to a few different lessons pertaining to both OSP and Shogun as they prepare for the next stages of their careers.