University of Tennessee Athletics
Saint Preux Builds Foundation on Rocky Top
October 17, 2019 | Football
By Dom Palumbo, UTSports.com
'Rocky Top' has concluded. The Power T has formed. 102,455 screaming fans are waiting in anticipation.
The Orange and White burst out of the tunnel onto the smooth Bermuda playing surface.
A few players hurdle their way towards the turn in a rush of adrenaline. A few take the exit at a bit of a slower pace—soaking in the entire scene.
For former Tennessee football player and current UFC light heavyweight fighter, Ovince Saint Preux, this scene, for the first time still stands as one of his favorite memories as a member of the Big Orange.
"(In terms of my favorite memory), I could go on and on," Saint Preux recalled. "I think it was the first game of my freshman year against Syracuse. Even though I redshirted that year I still dressed. The atmosphere alone was amazing. You hear about it, but it was crazy to experience that atmosphere with the way everyone showed up."
That moment, along with the multitude of moments after his UT career, all stemmed from his upbringing in a melting pot of Haitian and American culture.
Saint Preux, the son of two Haitian immigrants, grew up in a household where the focus was on each other and the Haitian community surrounding them.
"You know the story with a lot of parents who come from Haiti, they just want a better life for their kids," Saint Preux said. "It was a little different (for me). Even though I was growing up in the states, 80 percent of my life revolved around the Haitian culture in my house. The other 20 percent (was US culture that) came from me doing my homework or me watching TV. Outside the house, 80 percent is within the US culture and the other 20 percent is the way I carry myself. Within the Hatian community there's the phrase, 'it takes a village to raise a kid.' For instance, if I'm misbehaving there could be another Haitian parent that sees me. If I'm doing something bad they'll let my parents know and by the time I get home my mom will be waiting on me."
His family initially settled in a town titled "little Haiti" just outside of Miami, Florida, before heading northwest up to the city of Immokalee.
In Immokalee, Saint Preux was a three-sport athlete at Immokalee High School starring in football, wrestling and track. However, his introduction to sports wasn't what you'd expect, given his level of play.
"To be honest I was a late bloomer in sports," Saint Preux said. "Growing up in a Haitian household they emphasize school a lot. That is a great thing, but growing up all of my friends were playing football. I didn't start playing football until I was in the eighth grade. My generation of Haitian kids, we started sports late. My younger brothers only started playing football because I started playing. Then the Haitian parents started realizing that sports could help pay for school."
In high school, Saint Preux played primarily running back and linebacker, tallying 75 tackles and a school record 18 sacks in his senior year.
His abilities, though, weren't solely limited to the football field. In the wrestling circle he dominated—finishing his senior year with a 26-1 record, with the lone loss coming in the Florida 1A state championship—while gaining skills that would help propel his future career in the octagon.
"My high school wrestling coach came to me one day. I had no plans to wrestle. I was taking his English class my freshman year. He asked me, 'What are you doing after football?' I said 'nothing,' and he said I should come out for the team. I didn't like it at first, but he stayed on me, which helped me tremendously. I say that because if I didn't have that wrestling base it never would've translated into my career now in mixed martial arts and fighting for the UFC," Saint Preux said.
Following his high school graduation, Saint Preux, the Florida product, chose to make the difficult decision to leave home to go to a place that felt like his new home.
"Initially when I was in Florida you grow up either a Gator fan, a Cane fan or a Florida State fan and really there's no room in between" Saint Preux said. "But, I took a trip up here (to Knoxville) and I just liked it. It felt like home to me. It's crazy, because as a 17-year old kid you don't think about the aspect of, 'okay this is the system that fits me the best,' normally whatever school you think you'll enjoy yourself the most at, is the school you typically go to and I enjoyed myself here."
During his time on Rocky Top, UT was at one of its peaks. The Vols posted a 3-1 record against Florida during Saint Preux's four years, along with two trips to the SEC Championship in 2001 and 2004.
He formed a close bond with his defensive line coach Dan Brooks, a man who became more than just a coach for Saint Preux.
"Dan Brooks was my recruiting coach, so we had a great relationship," Saint Preux recalled. "It was one of those relationships, where anything I needed I knew I could always go talk to coach Brooks."
After his time playing football ended, Saint Preux stuck around Knoxville, but needed a new way to stay in shape, finding a new workout plan that eventually turned into a new career.
"Initially I just wanted to do mixed martial arts to stay in shape and my trainer Eric Turner, who I've been with since day one, kept pushing me to fight," Saint Preux said. "One time after he told me to fight I said, 'I don't want to get hit,' and he said, 'Well you got hit when you played football.' I said, 'I felt protected then.' Then, he picked up some big boxing gloves and he hit me in the arm. He said, 'That's the hardest you're going to get hit.' I said, 'That's it? I can do that.'"
"Then I had my first fight and I thought to myself 'Okay I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this and this.' I looked down at my gloves and the gloves that he hit me with were 18 oz gloves and the gloves I had on were 4 oz gloves and all I could think to myself was 'What am I doing?' Which is the last thing you want to think about in that moment. Basically, if you ask me about what happened that night I don't have any recollection of it. Everything I did went off of straight instinct and the game plan we made went out the window. But, it taught me a lot about myself."
From there, his pro fighting career blossomed. As an amateur he had an unblemished mark of 10-0. While the beginning of his pro career didn't go as planned, he put together enough solid fights to earn a preliminary deal with Strikeforce.
He fought in three fights in a period of seven weeks, all going the full three rounds, but dominating for the duration of each match.
Following those fights, he signed a full professional deal with Strikeforce, who was then bought out by UFC. Saint Preux strung together a four-year stretch where he won 12 of 13 fights from 2010-2014. He's fought 20 times for UFC, against some of the best in the business, including UFC star Jon Jones.
Yet, one day he will have to leave the octagon. When that day comes he hopes to stay involved in the two sports that have brought his life the most joy.
"I definitely want to involve myself with mixed martial arts as much as possible. Whether it's commentating, coaching, I just want to put myself around the game. But, my first love has always been football and I've always talked about coaching at the high school level," Saint Preux said.
Whatever the next step is, the man that's made Rocky Top home will always feel a part of the program and university that made him who he is.
"I've been here since 2001, which is crazy," Saint Preux reminisced. "I've seen a lot of ups and downs through here, but at the end of the day, no matter what, I'm always going to be a Vol."
Â
'Rocky Top' has concluded. The Power T has formed. 102,455 screaming fans are waiting in anticipation.
The Orange and White burst out of the tunnel onto the smooth Bermuda playing surface.
A few players hurdle their way towards the turn in a rush of adrenaline. A few take the exit at a bit of a slower pace—soaking in the entire scene.
For former Tennessee football player and current UFC light heavyweight fighter, Ovince Saint Preux, this scene, for the first time still stands as one of his favorite memories as a member of the Big Orange.
"(In terms of my favorite memory), I could go on and on," Saint Preux recalled. "I think it was the first game of my freshman year against Syracuse. Even though I redshirted that year I still dressed. The atmosphere alone was amazing. You hear about it, but it was crazy to experience that atmosphere with the way everyone showed up."
That moment, along with the multitude of moments after his UT career, all stemmed from his upbringing in a melting pot of Haitian and American culture.
Saint Preux, the son of two Haitian immigrants, grew up in a household where the focus was on each other and the Haitian community surrounding them.
"You know the story with a lot of parents who come from Haiti, they just want a better life for their kids," Saint Preux said. "It was a little different (for me). Even though I was growing up in the states, 80 percent of my life revolved around the Haitian culture in my house. The other 20 percent (was US culture that) came from me doing my homework or me watching TV. Outside the house, 80 percent is within the US culture and the other 20 percent is the way I carry myself. Within the Hatian community there's the phrase, 'it takes a village to raise a kid.' For instance, if I'm misbehaving there could be another Haitian parent that sees me. If I'm doing something bad they'll let my parents know and by the time I get home my mom will be waiting on me."
His family initially settled in a town titled "little Haiti" just outside of Miami, Florida, before heading northwest up to the city of Immokalee.
In Immokalee, Saint Preux was a three-sport athlete at Immokalee High School starring in football, wrestling and track. However, his introduction to sports wasn't what you'd expect, given his level of play.
"To be honest I was a late bloomer in sports," Saint Preux said. "Growing up in a Haitian household they emphasize school a lot. That is a great thing, but growing up all of my friends were playing football. I didn't start playing football until I was in the eighth grade. My generation of Haitian kids, we started sports late. My younger brothers only started playing football because I started playing. Then the Haitian parents started realizing that sports could help pay for school."
In high school, Saint Preux played primarily running back and linebacker, tallying 75 tackles and a school record 18 sacks in his senior year.
His abilities, though, weren't solely limited to the football field. In the wrestling circle he dominated—finishing his senior year with a 26-1 record, with the lone loss coming in the Florida 1A state championship—while gaining skills that would help propel his future career in the octagon.
"My high school wrestling coach came to me one day. I had no plans to wrestle. I was taking his English class my freshman year. He asked me, 'What are you doing after football?' I said 'nothing,' and he said I should come out for the team. I didn't like it at first, but he stayed on me, which helped me tremendously. I say that because if I didn't have that wrestling base it never would've translated into my career now in mixed martial arts and fighting for the UFC," Saint Preux said.
Following his high school graduation, Saint Preux, the Florida product, chose to make the difficult decision to leave home to go to a place that felt like his new home.
"Initially when I was in Florida you grow up either a Gator fan, a Cane fan or a Florida State fan and really there's no room in between" Saint Preux said. "But, I took a trip up here (to Knoxville) and I just liked it. It felt like home to me. It's crazy, because as a 17-year old kid you don't think about the aspect of, 'okay this is the system that fits me the best,' normally whatever school you think you'll enjoy yourself the most at, is the school you typically go to and I enjoyed myself here."
During his time on Rocky Top, UT was at one of its peaks. The Vols posted a 3-1 record against Florida during Saint Preux's four years, along with two trips to the SEC Championship in 2001 and 2004.
He formed a close bond with his defensive line coach Dan Brooks, a man who became more than just a coach for Saint Preux.
"Dan Brooks was my recruiting coach, so we had a great relationship," Saint Preux recalled. "It was one of those relationships, where anything I needed I knew I could always go talk to coach Brooks."
After his time playing football ended, Saint Preux stuck around Knoxville, but needed a new way to stay in shape, finding a new workout plan that eventually turned into a new career.
"Initially I just wanted to do mixed martial arts to stay in shape and my trainer Eric Turner, who I've been with since day one, kept pushing me to fight," Saint Preux said. "One time after he told me to fight I said, 'I don't want to get hit,' and he said, 'Well you got hit when you played football.' I said, 'I felt protected then.' Then, he picked up some big boxing gloves and he hit me in the arm. He said, 'That's the hardest you're going to get hit.' I said, 'That's it? I can do that.'"
"Then I had my first fight and I thought to myself 'Okay I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this and this.' I looked down at my gloves and the gloves that he hit me with were 18 oz gloves and the gloves I had on were 4 oz gloves and all I could think to myself was 'What am I doing?' Which is the last thing you want to think about in that moment. Basically, if you ask me about what happened that night I don't have any recollection of it. Everything I did went off of straight instinct and the game plan we made went out the window. But, it taught me a lot about myself."
From there, his pro fighting career blossomed. As an amateur he had an unblemished mark of 10-0. While the beginning of his pro career didn't go as planned, he put together enough solid fights to earn a preliminary deal with Strikeforce.
He fought in three fights in a period of seven weeks, all going the full three rounds, but dominating for the duration of each match.
Following those fights, he signed a full professional deal with Strikeforce, who was then bought out by UFC. Saint Preux strung together a four-year stretch where he won 12 of 13 fights from 2010-2014. He's fought 20 times for UFC, against some of the best in the business, including UFC star Jon Jones.
Yet, one day he will have to leave the octagon. When that day comes he hopes to stay involved in the two sports that have brought his life the most joy.
"I definitely want to involve myself with mixed martial arts as much as possible. Whether it's commentating, coaching, I just want to put myself around the game. But, my first love has always been football and I've always talked about coaching at the high school level," Saint Preux said.
Whatever the next step is, the man that's made Rocky Top home will always feel a part of the program and university that made him who he is.
"I've been here since 2001, which is crazy," Saint Preux reminisced. "I've seen a lot of ups and downs through here, but at the end of the day, no matter what, I'm always going to be a Vol."
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