Mark Hunt vs. Alexey Oleynik has officially been confirmed as the main event for the UFC Moscow event from the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia on September 15, 2018.
Initially former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum was set to challenge Oleynik at the event, however, he was flagged for a potential United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) anti-doping violation. Enter Mark Hunt.
Back in May Ariel Helwani reported that Hunt and Oleynik were now the new featured heavyweight fight of the night set for the UFC’s Moscow debut. UFC announced this morning (Thurs. July 19, 2018) that the bout will headline the card.
Hunt comes off a UFC 221 loss to Curtis Blaydes in Australia via unanimous decision. He’ll have his hands full with Oleynik, who has proven to be the king of the rare Ezekiel Choke after picking up a submission win by utilizing the maneuver for the 11th time of his career over Junior Albini back in May at UFC 224.
This will be a contest featuring two extremely battle tested veterans as Oleynik has nearly 70 career mixed martial arts (MMA) fights on his record, while Hunt has exactly 70 fights between both his MMA and kickboxing careers.
