MMA Preview – Alexey Oleynik vs Ilir Latifi UFC Vegas 61
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ALEXEY OLEYNIK VS ILIR LATIFI FACTS
When is UFC Fight Night 211? Saturday 1st October, 2022 - 22:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC Fight Night 211? UFC APEX, Enterprise, Nevada (US)
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night 211? Click here to buy tickets for UFC Fight Night
What channel is UFC Fight Night 211 on? BT Sport 1
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 211? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
ALEXEY OLEYNIK VS ILIR LATIFI LOWDOWN
The wily old veteran Alexey Oleynik (59-16-1) walks out for his 78th pro MMA fight. The aptly named ‘Boa Constrictor’ has 47 submissions on the record. After a split decision over the former champion Fabricio Werdum, he went on a three-fight skid. He got TKO’d by Derrick Lewis (2020) and Chris Daukaus (2021) before a unanimous decision loss to Sergey Spivak however, he responded with a vintage performance by wrapping Jared Vanderaa up in a scarf hold.
Ilir Latifi (15-8(1)) went 7-4 at light heavyweight which eventually saw the Swede abandon the weight cut to embark on a quest with the bigger boys. He only lost to top tier 205ers including Jan Blachowicz (2014), Ryan Bader (2016), Corey Anderson (2018) and Volkan Oezdemir (2019) and we feel he had a lot more to offer in the division but nonetheless he has decided to tangle with the likes of Derrick Lewis (2020) and co. A tough welcome to the division and he avoided the knockout but lost a unanimous decision. However, he picked up a much-needed win last June scraping past Tanner Boser in a split decision.
ALEXEY OLEYNIK VS ILIR LATIFI PREDICTION
Third time lucky for these two and hopefully Latifi makes it to the octagon this time. He will unsurprisingly give up a height and reach advantage, seven inches of reach in fact which the Russian will look to leverage to wrap up a submission.
Latifi is a juggernaut of a grappler and stubby powerhouse which will make the grappling exchanges very interesting. Oleynik’s weakness these days is his chin and struggles against knockout artists which Latifi is not, but the Swede will still be wise to try and make this a striking contest.
Oleynik is very awkward and has a habit of landing from unpredictable angles which we can see throwing Latifi’s game plan off forcing him to tie up in the clinch. This is when we would favour Oleynik who also has that Ezekiel choke in the locker.
They are different fighters, but we feel this will be very evenly matched making it tough to call. Oleynik is the underdog and Latifi has never been submitted, but we are backing the Russian who will be very grateful for fighting someone smaller without that knockout threat.
Prediction: Oleynik via Decision - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
Value Bet: Oleynik via Submission
