Injuries have led to the shuffling of the chief event of the UFC’s upcoming card Russia, and my first thoughts on the new headliner are below.
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 from the fight because of injury, and also the UFC chose to eliminate Oleynik from 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 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 as an underdog. Many fans and bettors composed off Overeem after back-to-back brutal knockout losses to Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou, but he looked fantastic against Pavlovich and showed he still has some gas left in the tank in age 38. Obviously, while he showed his vaunted finishing abilities against Pavlovich, the threat of Overeem being pumped out himself is always there every time he steps to the Octagon because his chin is very suspicious at this stage of his profession. Fortunately for Overeem, while Volkov would have had a fantastic opportunity to knock him out, the odds are Oleynik will seem to take this battle to the ground, making this a favorable matchup for”The Reem.”
Oleynik (57-11-1) is 6-2 at the UFC and is coming off of back-to-back submission wins over Mark Hunt and Junior Albini. One of the most underrated heavyweights in MMA history, Oleynik was deserving of a significant fight for quite sometime, however for whatever reason was reserved to combat a mid-tier heavyweight in the form of Harris, which attracted criticisms from people who pay close attention to matchmaking. Rather, an injury to Volkov helped him out as he’ll now get his opportunity to combat a top-10 ranked competition in Overeem, and also an impressive win here would push him closer to the title picture in the wide-open UFC heavyweight division.
Although Oleynik is a magician on the mat, Overeem is no slouch there either, and on the feet you need to provide that the Dutchman a good-sized advantage. I am curious to find out exactly what the line is for this particular bout later Overeem was a puppy against Pavlovich, but in my eyes that he must be the favorite to beat 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 information. Shtyrkov is filling in on short notice for the 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 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 finishes over UFC vets Fabio Maldonado and Thiago Silva in the Russian regional circuit, and he also 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 bout because of the fact he’ll be battling in Russia and also because I believe Clark must be faded.
Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.
Read more here: https://netwinfintech.in/?p=3091