The UFC heads to Moscow for the first time ever as Mark “The Super Samoan” Hunt fights hometown fighter Oleksiy “The Boa Constrictor” Oleinik in the main event of UFC Fight Night 136 on September 15, 2018 at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
Hunt is stepping in for former heavyweight Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum, who is currently suspended after testing positive for a banned substance. Werdum was removed from this event after he was flagged for a violation last April.
Aside from the main event, the UFC has put together an impressive card as they make their first appearance in Russia. Let’s preview the key fights of UFC Fight Night Moscow in this week’s edition of our fight guide:
Mark Hunt returns to the Octagon after stepping in for Fabricio Werdum. The former UFC title challenger will face fellow veteran Oleksiy Oleinik in a battle of forty-something fighters.
At age 44, Mark Hunt is the oldest fighter in the UFC’s current roster. And because his opponent isn’t any different at age 41, this main event is the third “oldest” fight in UFC history in terms of the fighters combined age. Only UFC 109’s Randy Couture vs Mark Coleman and UFC 118’s Randy Couture vs James Toney.
The Super Samoan has been fighting inside an MMA cage since 2004 but he began his fighting career much earlier as he was both a professional boxer (two fights only) and a kickboxer. Hunt earned fame after winning the K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2001. In the UFC, Hunt challenged for the interim UFC heavyweight title but was defeated by Fabricio Werdum.
For his part, Oleksiy Oleinik has been fighting since 1996. He was a veteran at M-1 Global and also fought for promotions like Bellator, KSW, BodogFIGHT, YAMMA Pit Fighting. The Boa Constrictor is the former KSW 8 Tournament Winner and the first heavyweight champion in the WCMMA promotion. He owns notable wins over Mirko Cro Cop and Travis Browne.
While Hunt and Oleinik are up there in age, this pair isn’t short of coming up with exciting fights. That’s because both are extremely excellent finishers, Hunt with his punches and Oleinik with his submissions.
The New Zealand born Hunt has a mixed martial arts record of 13-12-1 with 10 knockouts. Seven out of Hunt’s eight UFC wins are by knockout and his total of nine knockdowns scored in the UFC is fourth most in UFC history behind Junior Dos Santos (12), Andrei Arlovski(10) and Cain Velasquez(10).
Oleinik enters the fight with a mixed martial arts record of 56-11-11 including a 5-2 record in the UFC. 52 of his 56 victories were by stoppage, including all of his five wins under the UFC banner. His last 15 wins have been stoppage and 12 of those were by submission. 10 of those 15 stoppages have come inside of round 1. Four of his five UFC wins were by submission and these include the only pair of Ezekiel choke victories in UFC history..
Five of Oleinik’s 11 losses were by KO/TKO while six of Mark Hunt’s 12 losses have come via submission. This is a classic striker vs wrestler matchup and the oddsmakers have given the edge to the striker here, and for good reason. The oddsmakers are 3-0-1 with one no-contest in his five bouts as favorite but are 3-5 in fights where the Super Samoan was pegged as the underdog. While Hunt is favored here at -235, he was the underdog in his last three fights and he went 1-2 in those bouts. On the other hand Oleinik has been favored thrice in his UFC career and his record as a favorite is 2-1. As an underdog, he is even better going 3-1 inside the octagon.
There is no questioning Mark Hunt’s power and as they say power doesn’t grow old with age so there is always that chance that he wins this fight by knockout. After all, it takes just one punch to win a heavyweight bout. But all things considered, Hunt has been on the decline. He’s won just four times in his last 11 bouts and against Oleinik, he is giving up four inches in height and eight inches in reach. That size and length difference should be enough for the Boa Constrictor to keep the Super Samoan and his power punches at bay. The key here of the Russian submission artist is to get Hunt to the ground, which is always easier said than done because every time you get close to Hunt, you’re one punch away from being stopped. I think Oleinik will stay away from trouble, get Hunt on the ground and submit him. We’re picking Oleksiy Oleinik to beat Mark Hunt on 9/15/18.
4th ranked light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz will face the comebacking Nikita Krylov in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night Moscow.
Like the main event, this is an interesting battle of opposite styles. Blachowicz is an elite grappler while Krylov is a terrific striker. In fact, both these fighters are the light heavyweight division leaders in strikes and takedowns.
According to Fightmetric stats, Jan Blachowicz lands an average of 1.57 takedowns per 15 minutes at an accuracy of 52%. That accuracy rate is the highest among active fighters in the UFC’s 205 division. On the other hand, Nikita Krylov connects on an average of 6.55 significant strikes per minute at an accuracy of 60%. Those 6.55 significant strikes landed per minute are the most ever in the history of the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
Blachowicz enters the fight with a record of 22-7 with 5 knockouts and 8 submissions. Despite that impressive record, Blachowicz hasn’t found much success in the UFC as he’s just 5-4 in nine octagon appearances. But the native of Poland is on a three fight winning streak and if you take a look at his resume, his losses have been to top contenders Alexander Gustafsson, Corey Anderson and Jimi Manuwa. He recently avenged his loss to Manuwa.
As for Krylov, he is in his second tour of duty with the UFC. The Miner accumulated a 6-3 UFC record including 5 wins in his last 6 octagon appearances but then transferred to the Fight Nights Global promotion where he racked up four wins, all by finishes, including three knockouts in his last three bouts.
Krylov is 24-5 overall and he’s never gone the distance as all of his fights, win or loss, have ended via stoppage. 10 of his wins were by knockout and the other 14 were by submission. In the UFC, Krylov has three wins by knockout and another three wins by submission. Two of his three UFC losses were by submission while the other one was by knockout.
Although he is on a four fight winning run, Krylov’s last UFC appearance was at UFC 206 in December 2016 where he suffered a submission loss to Misha Cirkunov. The Ukrainian used to fight at heavyweight but moved down to light heavyweight in 2014. Since that move, Krylov has won nine of eleven bouts.
This is definitely the pick ‘em fight and the oddsmakers agree. It’s really hard to pick a sure winner here but the only thing that’s sure here is that this is going to be as exciting as the main event. Both fighters are well-rounded and they also have the ability to finish fights.
Having not gone the distance before, Krylov will try to finish this fight as early as possible. On the other hand, Blachowicz will try to drag this fight up to the final horn. The longer this goes, the advantage should go to Blachowicz who has nine wins by decision.
In order for Blachowicz to prolong the fight, he must take this to the ground where Krylov’s striking won’t be an advantage. Also, Krylov has been submitted a total of 14 times in his career and Blachowicz has eight wins by submission so this may be how the fighter from Poland will attack this fight.
Both fighters are on a winning streak but Krylov has done so against inferior competition in a smaller promotion. Blachowicz’s career looked like it was in trouble a couple of years back but he’s managed to bounce back and coming off a win over Manuwa, his confidence should be at a high. My first pick was Krylov by knockout but given that he’s not been in a big stage like this in years, I’m siding with Blachowicz here. We’re picking Jan Blachowicz to beat Nikita Krylov.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski takes on Shamil Abdurakhimov in a heavyweight showdown that will serve as the appetizer for the main event and co-main event of UFC Fight Night 136.
It’s been well over a decade since Andrei Arlovski captured the UFC heavyweight title with a win over Tim Sylvia. Since then, the Belarusian Pitbull fell from grace, worked his way back and earned a second tour of duty in the UFC. In his return, Arlovski would rack up four straight wins that were followed by a five fight losing streak. The Pitbull returned last November to beat Junior Albini and then came back last March to decision Stefan Struve. However, he lost again in his most recent bout to Tai Tuivasa.
Now 39, Arlovski is nowhere the explosive fighter he was during his prime. But he’s reinvented his game just enough to make him stay around in a lean division. Against Albini, Arlovski finally made good use of his left hand and not solely rely on his once vaunted right. In his bout with Struve, he showed a very solid wrestling game. Now these new found skills may not earn him a title shot anymore, but they’re going to keep him relevant in a weak division.
The 37 year old Abdurakhimov is one big man. But for a big bear like him, he can be easily outworked. Tim Johnson easily overpowered him in his UFC debut. Against Derrick Lewis he was passive as hell while trying to avoid the Black Beast’s heavy hands. At his best, the Russian turns things into a low output match and that’s the pace that he likes.
Abdurakhimov has fought a total of 5 times under the UFC banner. He won thrice, all by decision and only has two losses, both by knockout. He has not fought since November of last year. On the other hand, Arlovski has fought twice before this event and despite going 2-7. It will be interesting to see how ring rust is going to affect Abdurakhimov.
Both fighters have the ability to abbreviate fights but both are also susceptible to getting knocked out. Given their recent bouts, this may turn out to be a medium-paced striking affair which won’t see any knockdowns. Arlovski has gone the distance in his last four fights while Abdurakhimov in two out of his last three so there’s a very good chance we’re going to hear the final horn in this encounter.
This probably won’t be as exciting as the main event or the co-main event. Andrei Arlovski doesn’t have the freakish athleticism of a Francis Ngannou ( pre-Miocic version), the walk-off knockout ability of Mark Hunt or anything extraordinarily special. But he’s a very solid all around fighter who can still put up a very good performance. I think that this version of Arlovski has the edge in skill plus experience and he’s going to use both to keep Abdurakhimov on his toes for three rounds. It won’t be a one sided blowout but Arlovski has enough in his arsenal to beat Abdurakhimov. We’re picking Andrei Arlovski to beat Shamil Abdurakhimov.
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