Ovince Saint Preux searching for upset formula against Jon Jones

LAS VEGAS – Ovince Saint Preux is in the final days of preparation for a fight no one thinks he can win. He holds his shoulders back, his head high, and defiantly insists he’ll do what no man has ever done before:

He’ll defeat Jon Jones.

Jones is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and, arguably, the greatest single fighter in mixed martial arts history. His toughest opponent has been the lure of partying and no individual man. His only loss came via disqualification and that was the result of a referee’s mistake.

Saint Preux has fought three times since Jones last stepped into the Octagon, but on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden when they meet for the interim light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 197, Jones will be more than a 5-1 favorite.

The words are brave, confident, unwavering.

He was a late replacement for the injured Daniel Cormier, and despite not having the benefit of a full training camp, Saint Preux will tell you with a straight face that he’ll win on Saturday.

Late replacements have won before in the UFC, with mixed martial arts being so unpredictable and providing so many different ways to win. Just a month or so ago, Nate Diaz stepped off a cruise boat and into the cage to fight Conor McGregor with 10 days notice.

The bout ended with McGregor tapping his submission and Diaz uttering an infamous curse to an arena filled with passionate and stunned McGregor partisans.

“I’m not surprised, [expletives],” Diaz bellowed.

Saint Preux says he also won’t be surprised when he does the same thing and upsets one of the sport’s biggest stars.

“The opportunity, that’s the thing about it: Opportunity,” Saint Preux said. “Anything can happen in any given opportunity. So I had opportunities. If I was offered an opportunity, I would take it. That’s the thing I’m going to do and make the best out of the opportunity. I’m not worried about what anybody else did in the past. I know what Diaz did to Conor. OK, but Conor went up two weight classes.

“So at the end of the day, just like I’ve been given the opportunity and I’m going to make the best of the situation.”

To many, Saint Preux’s words seem hollow, a guy trying to pretend nothing is wrong as he walks past a yard with a damaged fence and an angry, snarling pit bull aggressively coming to check things out.

But there is a quote that should make Saint Preux take heart:

The words apply to Saint Preux, but were spoken by Holly Holm only a few days before she scored the greatest upset in UFC history when she knocked out Ronda Rousey.

At one point, Rousey was as high as a 20-1 favorite, and there was serious discussion in some parts about whether she could defeat a male fighter.

Holm didn’t buy into the Rousey hype. She knew Rousey was great and deserved immense respect as an athlete, but she also was adamant that Rousey was far from invincible.

There is a pressure that comes from facing a popular superstar like a Rousey, a McGregor or a Jones and it has nothing to do with their fighting ability.

There is so much attention focused on them, and their opponents hear repeatedly about their greatness. It can be overwhelming for someone who doesn’t know how to deal with it.

In the last couple of years, though, those seemingly invincible fighters have fallen at a much higher rate than possibly at any time in UFC history:

• On May 24, 2014, at UFC 173, Renan Barao was the bantamweight champion riding a nine-year unbeaten streak and being hailed by UFC president Dana White as perhaps the best fighter in the world. T.J. Dillashaw replaced Raphael Assuncao on the card and stopped Barao in the fifth round.

• On Nov. 13, 2015, at UFC 193, Rousey was inarguably the greatest female fighter in the world and was ranked among the elite pound-for-pound fighters when Holm knocked her out in a one-sided match.

• On Dec. 12, 2015, Aldo entered his match with McGregor unbeaten in more than 10 years and regarded by some as the best fighter of all time. McGregor needed just 13 seconds and one punch to win by knockout.

• And then on March 5, McGregor had been proclaiming himself the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world when he was tapped out by Diaz, who had taken the fight with less than two weeks’ notice.

So this opportunity Saint Preux has in front of him can be life-altering if he can discover the formula that led Dillashaw, Holm, McGregor and Diaz to success.

Saint Preux has noted his task is more mental than physical, and that has to be a good sign for his prospects. Few fighters have the physical attributes that Jones has, but history has shown mental toughness goes a long way in this sport.

“Cool, calm, collected,” Saint Preux said of his mental state as he counts down to fight night. “That’s the only way I’ve been feeling. You know, a lot of times people think it has a lot to do with your physical attributes, but a lot of it comes into mental preparation, too. I’m just cool, calm, collected.”

He’ll need to be, and more, to defeat Jon Jones.

It would seem impossible given the records and the physical skills of the two men. But we’ve seen it before.

Will we see it again?