All expenses paid!!!
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was forced to bow out of his much-anticipated rematch against Jon Jones — which was set to go down at UFC 197 on April 23, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada — with a leg injury.
As a result, Ovince Saint Preux was pegged as a late replacement, stepping in to face “Bones” for the interim title at the upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) event. A tall task for anyone, much less someone who didn’t exactly have a great performance in his last bout.
Though “DC” knows “OSP” has a chance to take Jones out, he extended an invitation to have him and his team fly out to California to prepare for the title fight at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) as a way to make sure Jones has a tough fight on his hands.
And it won’t cost Team Saint Preux a dime, as Cormier says he will take care of all expenses to make it happen.
“I think he has a shot, but there’s a chance for Ovince to have a better shot, but it’s up to him to take it. We will open our doors to him to come and train at the American Kickboxing Academy. I don’t care what happens in the future. I can’t train Ovince, but I got a guy named Cain Velasquez, I got a guy named Luke Rockhold that can train with him. I got a guy named Chi Lewis-Parry, Frank Munoz — we have everything in place where he can just take my training camp for the next three weeks. Take my training camp, we will take care of it, we will fly you and your team out here, we will put him up, give him a place to stay. No one in this gym wants to see Jon Jones not have to fight a tough fight on April 23. From my pocketbook, Jon needs to go out there and win and look great, but we want to give Ovince a chance and every guy on my team are willing to pay a part in that. I’ll be one of his coaches. Listen, no ones wants to fight Jones more than me. So if I can live through Ovince on April 23, I will live through Ovince on April 23. He can take my training camp. I thought we had, finally, the perfect mixture of what we needed for our preparations. So yes, Ovince can have my training camp, all paid for, right out of my checking account. Ovince, if you want to come to San Jose, bud, you got a team in AKA that is ready to support you.”
An offer he can’t refuse.
“OSP” has his own team down in Knoxville, Tennessee. However, with the opportunity to get all the secrets and gameplans that Cormier and Co. have in place to try to defeat Jones, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take the offer.
And should it come to pass that Cormier and Saint Preux have to fight in a title unification bout down the line, so be it, as Daniel says he has no qualms taking out the same fighter he helped prepare in order to retain his 205-pound belt.
The ball is in your court, “OSP.”