What’s next for Ovince Saint Preux after sleeping Yushin Okami at UFC Japan?

Ovince Saint Preux made pretty quick work of Yushin Okami at Friday night’s (Sept. 22, 2017) UFC Fight Night 117 event inside Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, choking out “Thunder” in the very first round via Von Flue choke.

It’s really what most people expected, as Yushin took the fight on a week’s notice after Mauricio Rua was forced out of the “OSP” rematch due to a knee injury. Nevertheless, Saint Preux now has two straight wins under his belt.

That said, a rematch against Jimi Manuwa is what I see for Ovince’s future. Confused? Don’t be.

Re-booking “Shogun” vs “OSP” doesn’t make sense any more, especially since most didn’t like it to begin with since Ovince already beat Rua down.

Saint Preux has already fought and lost to everyone else ranked above him minus except for Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier, as he has yet to face off against them.

Manuwa knocked “OSP” out in their first meeting, so it’s a fight, I’m sure, Saint Preux wants it back. Sure, Manuwa is coming off a loss to Volkan Oezdemir — who could be in line for a No. 1 contenders fight against Alexander Gustafsson — but Jimi was on the verge of vying for the strap.

While the rest of the division plays itself out, Jimi and Ovince can duke it out once again. Should Saint Preux get a victory, he can up his ranking spot while exorcising some demons. Plus, “OSP” isn’t opposed to the rematch.

“I have two losses I think about, to Volkan and Jimmy,” Saint Preux said during his post-fight presser duties. “Definitely I’d love to have those back. So whatever the UFC wants to do from here.”

For Jimi, another win over “OSP” gets him back in the mix. It’s a mix that no longer has Jon Jones in it and has Daniel Cormier back on top. Which mean’s the landscape has changed drastically, especially with the inclusion of a certain heavy hitter.

For complete UFC Fight Night 117 results and coverage click here.