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Moldovan UFC heavyweight Serghei Spivak defeated veteran Aleksei Oleinik at UFC Vegas 29 on Saturday, June 19 via unanimous decision.
Following Serghei Spivak's victory, former UFC veteran Frank Mir shared a humorous meme based on the story of fantasy fiction classic, The Lord of the Rings. The meme basically shows how by beating 'The Boa Constrictor', Serghei Spivak has saved Frank Mir's heavyweight submission record from being endangered.
Frank Mir has eight submission wins in the UFC, which is the highest in the heavyweight division. Aleksei Oleinik holds the second position jointly with Stefan Struve with six submission wins.
What does the meme mean for the Aleksei Oleinik vs. Serghei Spivak fight?
For those not aware of the story of J.R.R. Tolkien's magnum opus The Lord of the Rings and therefore cannot understand the connection between the meme and the Aleksei Oleinik vs. Serghei Spivak fight, we have got you covered.
The fiery demon in the picture tagged as 'Aleksei Oleinik' is a mythical creature created by the author called Balrog, who is a threat to the story's protagonist and stands in the way of his journey.
The young boy tagged as 'Frank Mir's UFC HW Submission Record' is the protagonist named Frodo, who is entrusted with an important task that will save mankind from doom. In between stands the powerful wizard Gandalf tagged in the meme as 'Serghei Spivak', who protects the protagonist from the demon and ensures his safe passage.
The maker of the meme here implied that Serghei Spivak protected Frank Mir's UFC heavyweight submission record from being touched or broken by Aleksei Oleinik in the same way Gandalf protected Frodo from Balrog - quite a funny take on the matter.
This is not the first time the story of The Lord of the Rings has provided meme material for mixed martial arts. Most recently, Darren Till compared fellow UFC middleweight Darren Till to an 'orc', yet another mythical creature created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The joke was carried forward by the middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who defended his title against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263.
