St. Preux defends Vols, silences Gators

Those Tennessee fans wantin' to put a whoopin' on the Florida Gators should have been at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday night.

Former UT defensive end Ovince St. Preux laid it to the Gators with a win by submission against Florida-trained Ombey Mobley in a 205-pound bout during the Xtreme Fighting Championships.

It was a bout fueled by the Vols-Gators rivalry, and the estimated crowd of 4,300 loved it.

"The UT-Florida deal, everybody knows it's a big rivalry," St. Preux said. "They brought it to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), and it ended up being a big rivalry too. Both times UT had the upper-hand, once with a kick, once with submission, both in the first round."

In the first XFC event held in Knoxville in February, St. Preux knocked out Mobley's friend and training partner, CT Turner, with a first-round kick to the chin. Turner was doing the Gator Chop when he was introduced before that fight.

Saturday, Mobley came out wearing a No. 15 Tim Tebow Florida jersey, booted a stuffed UT Smokey dog into the crowd, and did the Gator Chop amid a chorus of boos as he entered the ring. St. Preux came out as the PA system blared "Rocky Top" and fans cheered wildly.

"I seen him in the back with the Tim Tebow jersey on and Smokey the dog," St. Preux said. "I'm like, 'Well, I guess I'm gonna have to do it again.' "

St. Preux, 3-2 as a pro, forced Mobley, making his pro debut, to tap out 2:36 into the first round by getting him in a "kamikaze" hold, which looks like an ankle lock but is more of a calf lock that severely strains the knee. St. Preux knew his best chance of winning was to take down Mobley, a former boxer.

"That was my game plan, take him to the ground," said St. Preux.

Mobley exited amid boos from fans giving him the Gator Chop. "He got lucky, (expletive)!" Mobley yelled at one fan. "He didn't hit me with nothin'!"

In the featured bout, Rafaello Oliveira won by unanimous decision over John Mahlow. Mahlow was the XFC lightweight champ at 155 pounds, but they fought at 160. Thus, Oliveira earned another fight with Mahlow for the 155 lightweight title.

In the last bout, Jarrod Card (10-2-1) upset Bruce Connors to win the XFC Featherweight title by unanimous decision. Connors (6-1-0), whose face was beaten and bloodied, had won his previous six fights by first-round stoppage.

The night got off to a bloody-good start in a 170-pound bout.

Devan Plaisance, 23, fired one combination of punches after another and posted a TKO of Paul McEntee at the 3:06 mark of the first round. It was a flurry of rapid-fire punches that had the crowd roaring and blood splattering all over the fighters and canvas.

"I like to fight real aggressive," said Plaisance, a 2004 graduate of Central High School and former offensive tackle for the Bobcats. "Sometimes it gets into a little bit of a brawl, but I like to go out guns blazing."

Other winners: Matt Traylor (155 pounds), who won by first-round TKO; Jason Wood (150 pounds), who won by second-round TKO; Chris Barnett (heavy), who won by unanimous decision; Gerardo Julio Gallegos, who won by submission in the second round; and Corey Krebs (205), who won by first-round TKO.