Welcome back, Jon Olav Einemo.
MMA Fighting reports that the now 6-2-0 heavyweight, who was last seen at UFC 131 in a back-and-forth battle with one Dave Herman, is not only returning to the UFC after a highly controversial release from the promotion, but he also draws Mike Russow as his opponent for the UFC on Fox 2 fight card live from the United Center in Chicago on January 28th.
The split between the UFC and Einemo, which included the questionable releases of Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, and Valentijn Overeem—and raised some speculation as to whether highly touted Siyar Bahadurzada would ever set foot in the Octagon—came as a result of a dispute between the Golden Glory management team and the UFC.
Now that it seems that Einemo will be paying his managers and not the other way around, Einemo’s task at hand is the insanely durable Russow, who stands at 14-1 in his career with a no contest in his second career bout.
Sergei Kharitonov was the last man to beat Russow, but since that loss, Russow has rolled 10 fights deep in victory, including his third-round knockout of Todd Duffee and his TKO-by-doctor stoppage against Jon Madsen at UFC Fight Night 24.
The smart money is that Russow might desire to either stand and trade with the game Einemo, or perhaps wear him out against the cage, but in either event, Einemo will not be a rag doll for Russow to toy with.
Let’s not forget that Einemo traded with Herman and engaged in one of the more underrated heavyweight thrillers of 2011 before Herman earned the second-round TKO.
On paper, this heavyweight bout has the potential for an early Fight of the Night contender, but if it looks good on paper, die-hard fight fans and patrons of pugilism alike would do well to wait until January 28th for what could be one of the most high-tempo heavyweight bouts in recent MMA history.
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