UFC Fight Night 149 Overeem vs. Oleynik: Fight Card, Musings of A Sort, + Odds

April 20th, 2019

Yubileyny Sports Complex

St. Petersburg, Russia 

Main Card

#7 Alistair Overeem (44-17) -250 vs. #9 Alexey Oleynik (57-11-1) +210

"Ubereem" is coming off a win and at 38, with 13 (T)KO losses, time is of the essence. "The Demolition Man" still moves pretty well at his age and shouldn't have much to worry about coming back at him on the feet. "The Reem" has decent takedown defense which will need to be in top form and then the kickboxing will come.

MMAFO has a soft spot hard on for "The Boa Constrictor." Ya just gotta love 41 year old Russian coming over to the big show and running up a rather impressive 6-2 record, with all of his wins coming by stoppage. Oley is a helluva grappler but he is missing his knees and the takedown attempts are subject to incoming "Reem" knees of death.

Alistair is nothing if not patient in his latter years, and he'll stuff takedown attempts and run around the cage as Alex tires. Still, the "Ezekiel choke" master always has a shot but we fear he takes damage leading to a stoppage.

WINNER-Alistair Overeem by Rd.2 TKO

Islam Makhachev (16-1) -325 vs. Arman Tsarukyan (13-1) +265

Another Khabib Nurmagomedov disciple (which isn't a good thing at this point) is 5-1 in the UFC and is going to grapple-fuck.

The debuting Khabarovsk is only 22 but he's a striker with the ability to shutdown Makhachev who has had his lights turned out.

The percentages easily lean toward the wrestling/sambo player but we'd love to see an Upset for the youngster. 

WINNER-Islam Makhachev by Decision

Sergei Pavlovich (12-1) -255 vs. Marcelo Golm (6-2) +215

Sergei got a welcome from Alistair Overeem last November which earned him his 1st professional loss by TKO in the 1st round for a disastrous debut. Throwing him in deep against "The Reem" was a bit unfair and now he's got a shot at another "prospect." Pavlov is aggressive we have yet to see anything special.

Golm's on the chopping block after an unimpressive 1-2 stint in the UFC. Working with ATT will definitely help but he's not likely to do enough on offense to win 10 minutes.

WINNER-Sergei Pavlovich by Decision

Ivan Shtyrkov (15-0-1) -165 vs. Devin Clark (9-3) +145 

Cue scary Russian druid music...
The "Ural Hulk" is coming to eat your soul! Ivan "The Terrifying" is an absolute brute and comes with the murder you style. Of course, he's gonna gas out because we all have common sense.

"Brown Bear" is okay. I mean, he's never going to be a contender, not even gatekeeper really, but he's a serviceable fighter. Best of luck here fella.

WINNER-Ivan Shtyrkov by Rd.1 KO

https://www.instagram.com/antoninapantera/?hl=en

Roxanne Modafferi (22-15) +290 vs. Antonina Shevchenko (7-0) -350

"The Happy Warrior" is returning after a kinda loss against Sijara Eubanks who missed weight and was really competing at Bantamweight, but we digress. Roxy is tough as they come and has improved drastically over her career, while developing a loyal cult following. She's just a good person you can't help but root for.

"Pantera" is going to be compared to little sister and UFC Women's Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko, but she's a Muay Thai Champion in her own right and undefeated in her MMA run. Antonina is a precision striker but there isn't finishing power. 

Other Shevchenko isn't equipped to wrestle and Roxanne is definitely going to be looking to exploit the weakness. Modafferi out-works and un-welcomes the newbie.

Upset WINNER-Roxanne Modafferi by Decision

Krzystof Jotko (19-4) -175 vs. Alen Amedovski (8-0) +155

Jotko has lost 3 in a row and is trying to remain employed.

Amedovski has graduated from Bellator and he did so by getting 2 wins in 1:51. Alen reps ATT Rome which just sounds cool and he's gonna wreck Krzystof just because we need the new blood at 185s.

Upset Pick WINNER-Alen Amedovski by Rd.1 KO

Movsar Evloev (10-0) -335 vs. Sung Woo Choi (7-1) +275

WINNER-Movsar Evloev by Decision

Sultan Aliev (14-3) -115 vs. Keita Nakamura (34-9-2) -105

"The Sultan of Swing" has had a rough go of things. He's gotten badly lit up in most of his appearances and battled injuries outside of the cage. He's 34 and it may be too late.

Luckily for Aliev, "K-Taro" will give him every opportunity as he goes crazy swinging for the fences and taking massive risks that while entertaining, cost him on the cards.

WINNER-Sultan Aliev by Decision

Alexander Yakovlev (23-8-1) -155 vs. Alex da Silva Coelho (20-1) +135 

Oh, so, Yakovlev is still in the UFC? We haven't seen Alex 2.5 years and we completely forgot about him. 

"Leko" is only 23 years of age but he's only seen the judges once (his only career loss) and looking strong with potential. ADSC ftw.

Upset Pick WINNER-Alex da Silva Coelho by Decision

Marcin Tybura (17-4) -145 vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (19-4) +125

This is going to be a painful 15 minutes.

Upset Pick WINNER-Shamil Abdurakhimov by Decision

Gadzhimurad Antigulov (20-5) +180 vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (13-2) -220 

Typing out all of these names is exhausting. No Joe's or Tim's in Russia? Geez comrade. 

"Gadzooks" is relentless on the takedown and looks for the quick finish.

Olek returned from a hefty PED violation suspension to best the awful Gian Villante. The Pole still needs to redeem himself but he's 1-0 now against the drug test.

WINNER-Michal Oleksiejczuk by Rd.2 TKO

Magomed Mustafaev (13-2) +105 vs. Rafael Fiziev (6-0) -125

Wow. They are really dusting them off for this Mother Russia card. We haven't seen Magomed since '16 in a loss to Kevin Lee. Mustaf is a strong grappler who gasses out quickly.

Fiziev is on the fast-track as he's been blitzing opponents and has the vexing "Ataman" nickname.

We'll go with the Kyrgyzstan since we have no idea what Mustafaev has been doing. 

WINNER-Rafael Fiziev by Rd.2 TKO