Injuries have led to the shuffling of the main event of the UFC’s upcoming card in Russia, and my initial thoughts on the new headliner are below.
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 fight because of injury, and also the UFC opted to remove 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 at 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 from the UFC and in his final 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 at age 38. Obviously, while he showed off his vaunted finishing skills against Pavlovich, the threat of Overeem being pumped himself out is always there each time he steps to the Octagon as his chin is quite questionable at this point of his career. Luckily for Overeem, while Volkov could have had a good opportunity to knock him out, the chances are Oleynik will seem to take this fight to the ground, making this a more 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 big fight for quite sometime, however for whatever reason was booked to combat a mid-tier heavyweight in the shape of Harris, that attracted criticisms from people who pay close attention to matchmaking. Instead, an injury into Volkov helped him out as he’ll now get his opportunity to combat a top-10 ranked opponent in Overeem, along with also an impressive win here could push him closer into the title picture from the wide-open UFC heavyweight division.
Although 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 benefit. I am curious to see exactly what the lineup is for this particular bout after Overeem was a puppy against Pavlovich, but in my eyes that he must be the favorite to conquer Oleynik.
Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov, UFC Fight Night 149
At the same time, light heavyweights Devin Clark and Ivan Shtyrkov will meet UFC Fight Night 149. Marcel Dorff broke the news. Shtyrkov is filling in on short notice for its wounded Abdul-Kerim Edilov. Clark (9-3) is 3-3 in the UFC and is coming off of a TKO loss to Aleksandar Rakic. He has not looked very good from the UFC at either middleweight or light heavyweight, and with a loss here is 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 notable wins over Antonio Silva, Jeff Monson and Ricco Rodriguez. Though Clark has more UFC expertise, I would prefer Shtyrkov quite heavily in this respect due to the fact he’ll be battling in Russia and because I think Clark has to be faded.
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