UFC 274 Gains Ovince St. Preux-‘Shogun’ Rua Rematch

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With any luck, the commission will be on the lookout for any errant skateboards ahead of this big Ultimate Fighting Championship rematch.

Friday brought news of a high-stakes light heavyweight rematch, courtesy of Ag. Fight and later confirmed by multiple outlets. At UFC 274, which will take place on May 7 at a currently undetermined location, Ovince St. Preux (25-16) will face Mauricio Rua (27-12-1) for a second time. They first met in the main event of UFC Fight Night 56 in 2014, and “OSP” knocked Rua out in 34 seconds after “Shogun” missed with a right hand that made him fall over.

St. Preux will be returning to the 205-pound division for this fight, as he has jumped back and forth between light heavyweight and heavyweight over the last two years. The Knoxville MMA fighter did not win a fight up a weight class, going the distance with Ben Rothwell and suffering a knockout at the hands of Tanner Boser. “OSP” will be aiming to snap a two-fight knockout loss skid against Rua, and he will do so with an 80% finish rate in his pocket.

This will be the first appearance for “Shogun” since he tapped to strikes from Paul Craig in November 2020. The 40-year-old from Brazil ended a three-fight unbeaten stretch when he lost, which included a draw to the aforementioned Craig. Topping St. Preux’s finish rate by a hair, the 81% stoppage rate across a career that began in 2002 includes wins inside the distance over the likes of Alistair Overeem twice, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida for the UFC light heavyweight strap.

The growing UFC 274 card brings with it an embarrassment of riches for May 7 at a unknown venue in the U.S. Headlining the show is a light heavyweight championship matchup between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka, while the co-main will put lightweight gold on the line as champ Charles Oliveira faces the fearsome Justin Gaethje. Additional matchups on the billing include a flyweight contest between Brandon Royval and Matt Schnell, a women’s featherweight match pitting Norma Dumont against Macy Chiasson and a lightweight thriller between Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon.