Three weeks ago, Canadian heavyweight Tanner Boser (19-8-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) was on the wrong end of a split-decision against Sweden’s Ilir Latifi (15-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) at the UFC APEX Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Boser is wasting little time getting back in the octagon.
He will fight twice in the same month for the first time in his career when he steps in for Maxim Grishin (31-9-2) against one- time UFC light heavyweight interim title challenger Ovince St. Preux (25-15 MMA, 13-10 UFC). St. Preux moves up to heavyweight for the bout.
Boser, 29, enters the short-notice matchup with St. Preux as the loser of back-to-back fights. Latifi and former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (31-20) both posted victories over Boser.
Tanner Boser: “I’ve got to go for broke.”
Before that, Boser was riding a two-fight winning streak and held a 3-1 record inside the Octagon.
Boser stressed the importance of getting a win sooner rather than later.
“I’ve got to go in there and I’ve got to go for broke,” Boser told USA Today. “I don’t know if I have a chip on my shoulder, or if it’s good or bad that I do. I’m here to fight and get another paycheck, back-to-back. It’s nice. I’m trying to right the ship. I’m coming off of two losses, two really close losses. I could easily be on a four-fight win streak. So I’m coming in and I have to get a win. I have to get this monkey off my back so I can enjoy the summer.”
Boser rose to prominence on the regional scene, competing extensively both in his native Canada and abroad. He was a multi-time champion in Canada’s Unified MMA promotion and fought in Russia for M-1 Challenge and Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB).
Since signing with the UFC in 2019, Boser has become a popular contender in the heavyweight division thanks to his high-octane fighting style and charisma. The volume-throwing Boser has notched two knockouts in the UFC: Philipe Lins (14-5) and Raphael Pessoa (10- 2).
St. Preux has lost three of his last five fights. He has one fight as a heavyweight during his UFC tenure, dropping a split-decision to Ben Rothwell in May of 2020.
The fight will serve as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 30, which will air on ESPN+ live from the UFC APEX Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the card will pit heavyweight contenders Ciryl Gane (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), whom Boser has fought, and Alexander Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC).
–Field Level Media