Ovince Saint Preux proud University of Tennessee relationship maintains decades after playing career

LAS VEGAS – Before he was a UFC light heavyweight, Ovince Saint Preux was a Tennessee Volunteer – and his still is, in a sense.

A linebacker and defensive end for the University of Tennessee from 2001 to 2004, Saint Preux (26-17 MMA, 14-12 UFC) still maintains a relationship with the team two decades later.

“I’m blessed in a way, just because early on in my career, any time I needed help, any time I had something wrong with me, even early on when I started, I was able to essentially go to University of Tennessee and use the trainers that I had and be like, ‘Hey, I have this wrong with me. Can you help me out?'” Saint Preux told MMA Junkie and other reporters Wednesday. “They’d be like, ‘OK, sit here. We’ll give you the rundown. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Next, I need you here twice or three days a week so you can get treatment.'”

But Saint Preux isn’t the only one to benefit from his alumnus status. The Volunteers coaching staff have him speak to the team on occasion, something Saint Preux has enjoyed – and so have the players.

“The linebacker coach isn’t at UT any more, but when he was there, he was Haitian. He recruited me out of high school. So him and I, we were talking. He’s like, ‘I want you to come talk to our linebackers.’ I’m like, ‘OK, I can come talk to your linebackers.’ It went from talking to the linebackers and then two days before I came to talk, he’s like, ‘Hey, Coach (John) Heupel needs you to come talk to the team.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ So I had to talk to the whole team. It’s funny because when I walked in there, everybody was kind of talking. They put on a highlight video and everybody got quiet, which is cool I got their attention.

“Then, I was pretty much answering questions for the next hour-and-a-half. Heupel had to stop them from asking questions because he was like, ‘We have to stop because we never had this much questions asked before.’ I was like, ‘All right, that’s pretty cool.’ But every time I go back to the complex, it’s pretty much all love. Everybody sees it as pretty much all love.”

Saint Preux, 40, is Saturday set to break the record for most light heavyweight appearances in promotion history (25) when he faces Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 239 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Even after all these years (and all those games) OSP feels good – and that’s large in part to his alma mater.

“I was still able to use their weight room, cold plunge, trainers, everybody,” Saint Preux said. “To me, everybody’s been open arms. Even talking to Coach Heupel, he’s like, ‘Anything we can do for you, just let us know.’ Believe me, I’m in there a lot.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 239.