ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. ALEXEY OLEYNIK SET AS UFC ST. PETERSBURG MAIN EVENT
Injuries have contributed to the shuffling of the chief event of this UFC’s upcoming card in 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 is going to be a five-round heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Alexey Oleynik. Alexander Volkov pulled out of this struggle because of injury, and also the UFC opted to eliminate Oleynik out of his scheduled UFC Fight Night 150 bout against Walt Harris to shoot on Overeem instead. This card takes place April 20 in Venue Yubileyny Sports Palace City in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was 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 final fight knocked out Sergey Pavlovich within an underdog. Many fans and bettors wrote off Overeem after back-to-back brutal knockout losses to Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou, but he seemed fantastic against Pavlovich and showed he still has some gas left in the tank in age 38. Of course, while he showed his vaunted finishing skills against Pavlovich, the threat of Overeem being knocked out himself is always there each time he steps to the Octagon as his chin is quite suspicious at this stage of his career. Luckily for Overeem, while Volkov could have had a fantastic opportunity to knock him out, the chances are Oleynik is going to 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 from back-to-back entry wins over Mark Hunt and Junior Albini. Among the most underrated heavyweights in MMA history, Oleynik was deserving of a big fight for quite sometime, however for whatever reason was booked to combat a mid-tier heavyweight in the shape of Harris, that drew criticisms from people who pay close attention to matchmaking. Instead, an injury into Volkov helped him out as he will now get his opportunity to fight a top-10 ranked competition in Overeem, along with an impressive win here could push him closer to 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 toes you need to provide the Dutchman a good-sized advantage. I am curious to see exactly what the lineup is for this bout later Overeem was a puppy against Pavlovich, but in my eyes that he should be the favored to beat Oleynik.
Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov, UFC Fight Night 149
As well, light heavyweights Devin Clark and Ivan Shtyrkov will fulfill UFC Fight Night 149. Marcel Dorff broke the information. Shtyrkov is filling in on short notice for the injured Abdul-Kerim Edilov. Clark (9-3) is 3-3 in the UFC and is coming off of a TKO loss to Aleksandar Rakic. He hasn’t looked great from the UFC at either middleweight or light hearted, and using a loss here is very likely to be released from his contract. Shtyrkov (15-0-1) is coming off of back-to-back finishes over UFC vets Fabio Maldonado and Thiago Silva on the Russian regional circuit, and in addition, he holds notable wins over Antonio Silva, Jeff Monson and Ricco Rodriguez. Though Clark has more UFC experience, I’d prefer Shtyrkov quite heavily in this bout because of the fact he’ll be fighting in Russia and also because I believe Clark has to be faded.
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