Fighter Profile: Aleksei Oleinik - The Boa Constrictor
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| Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC Can Aleksei Oleinik make the biggest statement of his storied career tomorrow night? |
With an incredible forty-five separate submission victories on his lengthy win résumé, Oleinik faces arguably the stiffest striking challenge to date this weekend, as he meets Dutch kickboxing phenom Alistair Overeem. Replacing former Bellator heavyweight best Alexander Volkov, Ukraine-born Oleinik makes his way to the Octagon, supplied with a wily bottom grappling game. Looking to extend his current win streak to three, in each of Oleinik's promotion victories, he's managed to stop his opponent.
With fourteen Ezekiel or Scarf-hold choke finishes throughout his career ahead of his seventieth professional match-up, Aleksei presents a huge problem for any heavyweight, especially when paired with his Combat Sambo background. Oleinik has allowed himself to be mounted in those specific aforementioned submission wins, only to control posture and land a modified blood choke. Rarely used in mixed-martial arts competition, the previously mentioned techniques are often and effectively utilizing while grappling with the gi.
When compared with 'The Demolition Man' Overeem, Aleksei Oleinik's striking is undoubtedly rudimentary. Despite eight knockout stoppages to his name, any arising grappling exchanges offer 'The Boa Constrictor' the most likely path to success. Overeem is certainly no slouch when it comes to offensive grappling with his fair share of wins via submission and a nasty guillotine on call in his kitted out armory, but when compared to Oleinik's, it's almost apples and oranges.
Overeem's willingness to fight recklessly in search of the finish has been abandoned recently, showing fantastic movement against Sergei Pavlovich on his way to a first-round win, improving greatly since his move to Jackson-Wink MMA and then Colorado's Elevation Fight Team, now under the tutelage of Eliot Marshall, who replaced the retiring Leister Bowling. As well as his well thought out footwork and lateral movement, Overeem has some of the greatest Muay Thai knees in the history of mixed martial arts, and often utilizes a Thai clinch to land. The possibility of clinch initiation from Alistair offers Oleinik the opportunity to pull guard to utilize his offensive grappling game, or even look to his Sambo credentials. The clinch approach differs greatly for both competitors, but it also presents one of the most dangerous factors of this fight. Can Overeem execute those punishing knees like we witnessed against the likes of Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar, or can Olienik drag Alistair to the mat similarly to his victory over Viktor Pesta?
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