ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. ALEXEY OLEYNIK SET AS UFC ST. PETERSBURG MAIN EVENT
Injuries have led to the shuffling of the main event of the UFC’s upcoming card Russia, along with my first thoughts on the new headliner are under.
Alistair Overeem vs. Alexey Oleynik, UFC Fight Night 149
The main event of UFC Fight Night 149 will be a five-round heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Alexey Oleynik. Alexander Volkov pulled out of this struggle due to injury, and the UFC chose to remove Oleynik out of his scheduled UFC Fight Night 150 bout against Walt Harris to take on Overeem instead. This card takes place April 20 in Venue Yubileyny Sports Palace City at Saint Petersburg, Russia, and ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has been the first to break news of the chief event swap.
Overeem (44-17, 1 NC) is 9-6 overall in the UFC and in his last fight knocked out Sergey Pavlovich within an underdog. Many bettors and fans composed off Overeem after back-to-back brutal knockout losses to Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou, but he seemed fantastic against Pavlovich and showed that he still has some gas left in the tank in age 38. Obviously, while he showed off his vaunted finishing skills against Pavlovich, the danger of Overeem being pumped himself out is always there every time he steps to the Octagon because his chin is quite suspicious at this point of his career. Fortunately for Overeem, while Volkov would have had a fantastic opportunity to knock him out, the odds are Oleynik will look to take this fight to the ground, making this a favorable matchup for”The Reem.”
Oleynik (57-11-1) is 6-2 in the UFC and is coming off of back-to-back entry wins over Mark Hunt and Junior Albini. One of the most underrated heavyweights in MMA history, Oleynik has been deserving of a significant fight for quite sometime, yet for whatever reason was reserved to combat a mid-tier heavyweight in the shape of Harris, that attracted criticisms from those who pay close attention to matchmaking. Instead, an injury to Volkov assisted him out as he will now get his chance to combat a top-10 ranked competition in Overeem, along with also an impressive win here would push him closer into the title picture from the wide-open UFC heavyweight division.
Though Oleynik is a wizard on the mat, Overeem is no slouch there either, and about the feet you have to provide the Dutchman a good-sized advantage. I am curious to find out exactly what the lineup is for this particular bout after Overeem was a dog against Pavlovich, but in my eyes that he must be the favorite to conquer Oleynik.
Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov, UFC Fight Night 149
As well, light heavyweights Devin Clark and Ivan Shtyrkov will fulfill at UFC Fight Night 149. Marcel Dorff broke the information. Shtyrkov is filling in on short notice for its injured Abdul-Kerim Edilov. Clark (9-3) is 3-3 at the UFC and is coming from a TKO loss to Aleksandar Rakic. He hasn’t looked very good from the UFC at either middleweight or light hearted, and with a loss here is very likely to be released from his contract. Shtyrkov (15-0-1) is coming off of back-to-back endings over UFC vets Fabio Maldonado and Thiago Silva on the Russian regional circuit, and in addition, he holds remarkable wins over Antonio Silva, Jeff Monson and Ricco Rodriguez. Though Clark has more UFC expertise, I would prefer Shtyrkov quite heavily in this bout because of the fact he will be fighting in Russia and because I believe Clark must be faded.
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