Injuries have contributed to the shuffling of the main event of this UFC’s forthcoming card Russia, and 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 from the struggle due to injury, and also the UFC chose 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 at Venue Yubileyny Sports Palace City at Saint Petersburg, Russia, and ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has been the first to break news of the main 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 wrote 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 at age 38. Obviously, while he showed his vaunted finishing skills against Pavlovich, the danger of Overeem being pumped himself out is always there each time he steps into the Octagon as his chin is quite suspicious at this point of his career. Luckily for Overeem, while Volkov would have had a fantastic opportunity to knock him out, the odds are Oleynik is going to seem to take this battle 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 fight a mid-tier heavyweight in the form of Harris, which attracted criticisms from those 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, and an impressive win here could push him closer to the title picture in the wide-open UFC heavyweight division. Though Oleynik is a magician on the mat, Overeem is no slouch there either, and on the feet you have to provide the Dutchman a good-sized benefit. I am curious to see exactly what the line is for this particular bout later Overeem was a puppy against Pavlovich, but in my eyes he should be the favored to conquer Oleynik. Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov, UFC Fight Night 149 At the same time, light heavyweights Devin Clark and Ivan Shtyrkov will fulfill UFC Fight Night 149. Marcel Dorff broke the news. Shtyrkov is filling in on short notice for the wounded Abdul-Kerim Edilov. Clark (9-3) is 3-3 at 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 using a loss here is 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 experience, I would favor Shtyrkov quite heavily in this bout because of the fact he’ll be fighting in Russia and also because I think Clark has to be faded. Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker is going to be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.

Injuries have contributed to the shuffling of the chief event of the UFC’s forthcoming 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 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 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 at Saint Petersburg, Russia, and ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has been the first to break news of the main 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 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 revealed 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 knocked himself out is always there each time he steps into the Octagon because his chin is very suspicious at this point of his profession. Luckily for Overeem, while Volkov would have had a fantastic opportunity to knock him out, the chances are Oleynik will look to take this battle to the floor, making this a more favorable matchup for”The Reem.” Oleynik (57-11-1) is 6-2 in the UFC and is coming from back-to-back submission wins over Mark Hunt and Junior Albini. Among 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 fight a mid-tier heavyweight in the shape of Harris, that attracted criticisms from people who pay close attention to matchmaking. Instead, an injury to Volkov assisted him out as he will now get his chance to fight a top-10 ranked competition in Overeem, and an impressive win here could push him closer to the title picture from 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 have to give the Dutchman a good-sized benefit. I am curious to see exactly what the line is for this bout later Overeem was a dog against Pavlovich, but in my eyes he must be the favorite to beat Oleynik. Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov, UFC Fight Night 149 As well, 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 the wounded Abdul-Kerim Edilov. Clark (9-3) is 3-3 in the UFC and is coming from a TKO loss to Aleksandar Rakic. He has not looked great in 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 from back-to-back finishes over UFC vets Fabio Maldonado and Thiago Silva on the Russian regional circuit, and he also holds remarkable wins over Antonio Silva, Jeff Monson and Ricco Rodriguez. Though Clark has more UFC expertise, I’d favor Shtyrkov quite heavily in this respect due to the fact he will be fighting in Russia and because I think Clark has to 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.