UFC Fight Night 55: Despite having more weapons, Ovince St. Preux won't look to engage in 'slugfest' with Shogun Rua

Going strike-for-strike against an accomplished stand-up fighter like Mauricio Rua is probably not the best recipe for victory.

That's something not lost on Ovince St. Preux, who says that when he steps into the Octagon this weekend (Sat., Nov. 8, 2014) to take on "Shogun" in the main event of UFC Fight Night 55 in Uberlandia, Brazil, he won't be seeking a slugfest.

Because fighting a smart fight is the best strategy to employ against a man who made a name for himself thanks to his devastating knockouts.

Furthermore, despite the fact that "Shogun" has shown at times that cardio can be his worst enemy, "OSP" doesn't put too much stock into it, because at the end of the day, every fighter usually has problems with their gas tank, himself included.

From his conversation with MMA Fighting:

"It's a weakness for everybody. 'Shogun' is the type of fighter that when he goes out, he is trying to take your head off. And the thing about doing that is, there is a lot of output and with that output you waste a lot of energy. I think it's just smart to fight a smart fight. I'm not going to fight his fight, I'm not going to get into a slugfest with him because that is where he does most of his damage at. That (his cardio) is neither here nor there. With this climate, I might be in a little bit of trouble with my cardio, but I've been feeling good thus far. If the fight goes standing up, if the fight goes to the cage I feel good, if it goes to the ground, I feel good."

But just because Ovince is looking to avoid playing the striking game against Rua, doesn't mean he lacks confidence in his own stand-up skills.

"Of course everybody is going to have confidence in knocking somebody out. He has knockouts himself, too, as I do. I can say the same thing for me, he can knock me out and I can knock him out. I think I have more weapons than he does. When it comes to the ground game, I'm real good at neutralizing people. When we lock up, hopefully he'll see how strong I am."

St. Preux received the opportunity to step in against Rua on late notice after the Brazilian's original opponent, Jimi Manuwa, suffered a foot injury that forced him out of the bout.

And with the chance to fight one of the all-time greats, "OSP" didn't hesitate to answer the call in an attempt to take down a legend as he looks to up his stock, as well.

If he can just avoid the heavy punching power Rua packs.