With over 120 professional MMA fights between them, Alistair Overeem (44-17-0-1) and Alexey Oleynik (57-11-1) headline the UFC’s second trip to Russia.
Overeem was originally set to face Alexander Volkov before the Russian was replaced by his naturalized countryman Oleynik, who was also at the top of the bill last year for the UFC’s first Russian production. Both heavyweight hitters are Top 10 in the world according to the UFC’s official divisional rankings.
Other key fights on the card include lightweight ace Islam Makhache (16-1) as he takes on Octagon debutant Arman Tsarukyan (13-1) and anchoring the preliminary action will be former M-1 bantamweight champion Movsar Evloev (10-0), competing in the featherweight division, marking his UFC debut.
UFC Fight Night 149 takes place April 20 at Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The event streams in its entirety on ESPN+.
Overeem, 38, is ready to string together wins after breaking a two-fight losing skid six months ago with a first-round TKO over Sergey Pavlovich. Since a failed title bid in 2016, Overeem is 3-2, including a decision win over former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum.
The Ukrainian-born Oleynik fights under the UFC banner for the ninth time but this represents his 20th pilgrimage back to Mother Russia in a career that spans more than two decades. He is the winner of back-to-back fights and 6-2 in the UFC overall. At UFC Moscow, Oleynik picked up his fourth Performance of the Night award with a first-round rear-naked choke win over Mark Hunt.
Main card: ESPN+
Start time: 1 p.m. ET
Alistair Overeem (-240) vs. Aleksei Oleinik (+190)
Islam Makhachev (-350) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (+265)
Marcelo Golm (+235) vs. Sergei Pavlovich (-305)
Devin Clark (+150) vs. Ivan Shtyrkov (-185)
Roxanne Modafferi (+280) vs. Antonina Shevchenko (-370)
Alen Amedovski (+150) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (-185)
Prelims: ESPN+
Start time: 10 a.m. ET
Movsar Evloev (-315) vs. Sung Woo Choi (+245)
Sultan Aliev (-120) vs. Keita Nakamura (-110)
Alex da Silva (+130) vs. Alexander Yakovlev (-160)
Shamil Abdurakhimov (+130) vs. Marcin Tybura (-160)
Gadzhimurad Antigulov (+170) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (-210)
Rafael Fiziev (+120) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (-150)
All odds provided by Bovada.com.
