Alistair Overeem continued his heavyweight resurgence earlier today (Sat., April 20, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 7 live on ESPN+ from inside Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when he put a stop to submission specialist Aleksei Oleinik via first-round TKO (knees and punches).
Oleinik put Overeem on notice early with a big overhand right that rocked “The Reem.” The Russian veteran would then follow up with countless short punches to the body along the cage. Overeem remained patient, though, as he gained control of Oleinik’s wrists and started to launch knees. Eventually those knees started to pile up and Oleinik fell to the canvas. That’s when Overeem launched heavy ground-and-pound on his former training partner and forced the referee’s hand with 15 seconds left in the first round.
Check out the video highlights above and below courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
.@Alistairovereem dishes a few Uberknees #UFCStPetersburg pic.twitter.com/zkfD8RCSEL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 20, 2019
With this performance, Overeem extends his current win streak to two in the ultra-competitive UFC heavyweight division. The 38-year-old veteran still has enough left in the tank for another run at UFC gold and this knockout victory over a dangerous finisher like Oleinik will land Overeem a little closer to that reality.
For complete UFC St. Petersburg results and coverage click here.