UFC 246 takes place on Saturday night with a loaded card headlined by the return of Conor McGregor taking on Donald Cerrone. Another big fight on the card that has flown under the radar has Aleksei Oleinik taking on Maurice Greene, the heavyweights of UFC 246. This is the only heavyweight fight on the card and with both fighters coming off of knockout losses they both will be ready to put on a show.
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Maurice Greene
Aleksei Oleinik will be walking to the cage for the 72nd time of his career, yes you read that right 72nd. The 42-year-old submission wizard has an overall record of 57-13-1 which includes an astounding 45 submission victories. Throughout his career, Oleinik has had fights against big names like Thiago Santos, Mark Hunt, and Alistair Overeem. Currently, Oleinik is ranked number twelve in the UFC heavyweight division but he is coming off of two straight knockout losses and could fall out of the top fifteen with another loss.
Maurice Greene is making his fifth UFC appearance but this fight against Oleinik will be the biggest of his career to date. Greene is coming off of his first career knockout loss against Sergei Pavlovich back at UFC Fight Night 162. With a 3-1 record in the UFC, the Ultimate Fighter 28 alum will need to keep an eye on Oleinik’s dangerous submission game. However, don’t be surprised if Greene allows the fight to hit the mat as he is no slouch in jiu-jitsu as four of his eight victories came by submission. With a win, Greene could possibly see his name crack the top fifteen in the heavyweight rankings.
Greene being a much taller fighter and having a slight reach advantage will need to use that to his advantage and try and keep the striking of Oleinik to the outside. Oleinik, on the other hand, will need to find a way to get this fight to the mat so he can find a way to submit Greene.
With Both fighters coming off of losses and the hype of this huge event it would be shocking to see the judges involved in this one.
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