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UFC Fight Night 136: Moscow is coming up this weekend, and oddly enough, Oleinik is not the immediate favourite to win the fight. The fact that he is not the favourite is still understandable, given the popularity of Hunt among fans. However, things have changed in the past few years for Hunt.
While there is no doubting that Mark Hunt is anything less than one of the best UFC Fighters in the world and on the UFC roster, his reputation is one that has made him feel almost untouchable, and despite being 44 years of age, he has shown no signs of slowing down.
However, with any reputation, there is a danger that the fight itself might be overshadowed by how it looks on paper. Aleksei Oleinik has more than a fair chance of not only putting up a fight against Mark Hunt but defeating him, despite the odds, or perhaps, the strength of public opinion not being in his favour.
In this article, we will take a look at three of the reasons that Aleksei Oleinik will prevail and defeat Hunt to pick up the all-important win. Without any further ado, let's get into it.
#3 Hunt's Age:
Mark Hunt is currently 44 years of age, and while this is not a dig at the UFC Fighter, he is nowhere near the star he was near the beginning of his career. The demolition machine that Hunt was near the beginning is someone that the fans will be hard pressed to find in reality.
He has not shown signs of his age as such in the way he behaves, but that is not a positive for him. Not only has he shown a lack of the speed that he had in the beginning, his stamina from earlier in his career is also nowhere near what it had once been.
Hunt has said that it is not time yet for him to hang up his boots, and he enjoys being the one who defies expectations. However, with the pressure on him for being so old, he did confess after UFC 221 that he might retire after 2 more fights and not renew his contract.
UFC Adelaide was expected to be his last fight in December. Dana White has stoked the fire saying that if Hunt were to perform well in Moscow he might earn a further contract with the company, and possibly become the oldest star to perform for them in the future.
While nothing is concrete as of yet, Oleinik will look to take advantage of Hunt's age and take him out, using his superior speed against the fighter.
#2 Home Crowd Advantage:
Despite whatever may be said about their individual capability, there is one thing that cannot be overlooked when looking at the upcoming UFC Fight Night in Moscow.
Oleinik will have one huge advantage over Hunt, and that will be he is fighting in front of a crowd that supports him. While Hunt is a veteran who will likely not allow the crowd to affect him, it might be just the boost that Oleinik needed to fight and win in the main event of possibly the biggest fight since coming to the UFC.
While it might not be on a UFC pay-per-view, Fight Night is no longer just an event that does not matter, seeing as how UFC is coming to Russia for the first time.
Having represented Russia before on the International stage, Oleinik is something of a favourite among the home fans in Moscow, which might provide him with just the boost that he needs to pick up the win.
#1 The Veteran Experience of Oleinik:
People often forget that despite his relative freshness in UFC, Oleinik is a long-time Mixed Martial Arts Fighter. In fact, he is one of those fighters who has had a number of professional fights in the world, with his record being 56-11-1.
People have often pointed out Mark Hunt's experience being the advantage that the older fighter will have when he faces the Russian. Unfortunately, while Oleinik has not competed at a level like UFC for as long as Hunt, his participation in International competitions and promotions outside UFC has shown that he does not lack in experience.
In fact, fighting with people from all over the world has seen him adapt to different styles, and this will give him an advantage when he takes on Hunt's more headstrong approach to most fights.
