Mark Hunt vs. Aleksei Oleinik To Headline UFC Fight Night 136 In Moscow
Mark Hunt vs. Aleksei Oleinik To Headline UFC Fight Night 136 In Moscow
A heavyweight showdown between Mark Hunt and Aleksei Oleinik has been confirmed to main event UFC Fight Night 136 in Moscow, Russia.
The UFC's inaugural trip to Moscow has its main event, as heavyweights Mark Hunt and Aleksei Oleinik will collide in Russia Sept. 15.
The matchup was originally brought to the public's attention by ESPN's Ariel Helwani and MMA Team Dagestan, but it took an interesting turn Tuesday.
On his Instagram, Vitor Belfort posted a picture with UFC President Dana White, where a white board containing matchup information could be seen in the background.
While Belfort has since deleted that post, the Internet never misses anything, and Reddit's MMA subreddit, /r/MMA, captured it.
The UFC later confirmed the bout via its official Twitter account.
The Octagon makes its first trip to Russia ??@MarkHunt1974 & @OleynikUFC headline the MAIN EVENT of #UFCMoscow. pic.twitter.com/XvNq3KfLCJ
— UFC (@ufc) July 19, 2018
Currently, Hunt holds the No. 8 spot in the UFC's official heavyweight rankings, while Oleinik comes in at No. 11.
That said, Oleinik is 3-1 in his last four, including two Ezekiel choke finishes, while Hunt is 1-2 with one no-contest.
Hunt, however, has tackled a higher level of competition of late, facing Brock Lesnar, No. 6-ranked Alistair Overeem, No. 3-ranked Curtis Blaydes, and No. 2-ranked Derrick Lewis during that stretch.
Oleinik's last three wins all came against unranked opposition, while his most recent loss came against Blaydes, so this matchup vs. Hunt serves as his chance to solidify himself as a threat to the upper echelon of the UFC's heavyweight division.