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Despite being massively low on name value, the UFC’s second card in Russia – UFC Fight Night 149 – was actually a hugely entertaining one in execution. The show started with a bang, with 4 straight finishes, and despite a bit of a slowdown in the middle with 3 straight decisions, it ended with a wildly entertaining Heavyweight brawl.
Naturally the show wasn’t perfect – few UFC shows are really – but considering what I was expecting coming in, this one was pretty low on bad parts, which for a throwaway European card is a huge plus point.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 149: Overeem vs. Oleinik.
#1 Best: The Reem delivers again
It’s hard to believe that Alistair Overeem has now been in the UFC for the best part of a decade. After a really sticky patch from 2013-2014 that saw him go 1-3, it looked like the former ‘Ubereem’ would end up as a high-level entry in a list of the UFC’s biggest ever busts, but he’s turned that around really impressively and remains one of the most dangerous Heavyweights on the roster despite being in his late 30’s.
Last night’s win over Aleksei Oleinik was another example of that, and the fact that the fight between the two veterans was such great fun made it even better. Oleinik came out super aggressively, throwing wild strikes at Overeem after failing to secure a submission in the opening moments, but the Dutchman managed to stay calm under fire and never looked truly hurt despite ‘The Boa Constrictor’ unloading with everything he had.
Moments later, Overeem turned the tide with a series of brutal knees to the head and body, and when Oleinik went down, ‘The Demolition Man’ sealed the deal with some punches on the ground. Is Overeem still a title contender? I know he lost to Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes pretty badly, but I’d actually say he is, as Heavyweight is so thin and he’s back on a two-fight winning streak.
Post-fight Overeem called out Alexander Volkov – who had to pull out of their initially scheduled fight last night with an injury – and that works for me. For an Overeem fan such as myself though, this was the perfect way to end last night’s show, and it’s great to see the Dutchman continue to stay relevant at the top level.
#1 Worst: The Ural Hulk’s debut has to wait
Outside of the Overeem/Oleinik fight there wasn’t a lot to look forward to on this show, and so I was pretty pumped for the debut of ‘The Ural Hulk’ Ivan Shtyrkov. Prior to researching the card I hadn’t really heard of the Russian, but after watching his fight footage I was wowed; Shtyrkov was bringing a 15-0 record in for his fight with Devin Clark, and had destroyed UFC veterans like Thiago Silva and Fabio Maldonado on the Russian circuit. The fact that he looked so physically intimidating made his debut a must-watch, too.
And then of course, it never happened. Despite weighing in at the 205lbs limit on Friday, Shtyrkov was apparently hospitalised and had to withdraw from the fight at some stage between Friday night and Saturday morning. The announcement of the fight being cancelled actually came from Clark, which means that there are still a ton of questions around why it happened, too. Did Shtyrkov cut too much weight? Was he busted by USADA? Who knows.
At any rate, considering the card didn’t have any true stinkers, to me this was probably the worst point. There’s few things worse than looking forward to a fight and then seeing it scrapped, after all. Hopefully Shtyrkov can overcome whatever issue sidelined him and make his UFC debut soon.
#2 Best: Pavlovich lives up to the hype
Russian Heavyweight prospect Sergei Pavlovich made some noise last year when he was signed by the UFC following a run on the regional circuit that saw him go 12-0, but eyebrows were raised when he was matched with Alistair Overeem for his Octagon debut. Sure enough, Pavlovich never got the chance to show his power-striking game and was smashed by the veteran in the opening round.
Given an opponent lower on the totem pole last night in Marcelo Golm, Pavlovich finally showed the UFC fans what the hype was all about. He wasted no time in unloading some huge shots on the Brazilian, stunning him with a flurry in the opening seconds of the fight before finishing him with a coffin nail uppercut, netting himself one of the show’s bonus awards in the process.
Nobody is going to confuse Golm for a top-level contender any time soon – he was coming off two straight losses – but this was definitely a great showing for Pavlovich, and offered more evidence that the Overeem fight was just a step too far for him. He’s still a tremendous prospect at Heavyweight – young, athletic and hard-hitting – and he may yet develop into a contender if last night’s showing is anything to go by.
#2 Worst: Why was Makhachev faced with a debutant?
Okay, so I’m definitely not complaining about the fight between Islam Makhachev and newcomer Arman Tsarukyan – it was a ton of fun, with some crazy grappling exchanges and scrambles, and the two men were justifiably given the ‘Fight of the Night’ award. But realistically, there’s just no way this fight should’ve been happening.
Tsarukyan looks every bit the hot prospect and at 13-2 he may yet develop into a contender, but quite why he was matched with Makhachev is a mystery to me. Makhachev – a training partner of current UFC Lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov – has been in the UFC since 2015, was 5-1 coming into yesterday’s show, and hasn’t lost since October 2015.
Lightweight is probably the UFC’s most stacked division, so was it really the case that the UFC couldn’t find a higher-ranked opponent for Makhachev than an Octagon newcomer? I don’t buy that personally, and given the fight was the co-main event last night I don’t think it’s a case of the UFC not wanting to showcase him either.
That means potential opponents are likely ducking Makhachev, which is probably a seriously frustrating situation for the Dagestani fighter. At any rate, he won last night and looked excellent, so can we please get him a high-level opponent next time out?
#3 Best: Modafferi strikes a blow for the less athletic
When the UFC began back in 1993, Royce Gracie and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu proved that a less athletic fighter could overcome faster, stronger opponents simply by using superior skills. 25 years on, things have obviously changed dramatically and those more athletic fighters are now equally as skilled – if not more so – than everyone else. But last night, Roxanne Modafferi proved that there’s still a place in the UFC for fighters who aren’t necessarily athletically gifted.
‘The Happy Warrior’ – who unsuccessfully challenged for the UFC Flyweight title in 2017 – has never been an explosive athlete, and she’s said herself that she’s struggled against bigger, stronger opponents in the past. But faced with a far better athlete last night in the vaunted prospect Antonina Shevchenko, she came through brilliantly, using her underrated takedowns and ground game to dominate ‘Pantera’ for the first two rounds, eventually winning a split decision.
Will Modafferi ever hold UFC gold? The answer is most likely not, but the fact that she was able to beat an opponent like Shevchenko last night was a massive accomplishment for her, particularly as she’s now a 16-year veteran. Modafferi gives hope to every less-athletically gifted fighter out there, and you’ve got to respect that.
