There’s been a late change to the UFC St. Petersburg main event.
The UFC’s second trip to Russia will once again feature Aleksei Oleinik in the main event.
According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Alexander Volkov was forced to withdraw from his bout with Alistair Overeem for undisclosed reasons, so replacing him is Oleinik, who was scheduled to fight Walt Harris at UFC Ottawa on May 4th.
Oleinik (57-11-1) headlined last year’s UFC Moscow card in September against Mark Hunt, winning by first-round rear-naked choke. Better known for his several victories by Ezekiel choke, the 41-year-old is 6-2 inside the Octagon, with all of his wins coming by stoppage. His last loss saw him suffer a doctor’s stoppage TKO vs. Curtis Blaydes.
Overeem (44-17-1) last competed in November at UFC Beijing, stopping newcomer Sergey Pavlovich by ground-and-pound TKO. The former Strikeforce and DREAM champion had entered the Pavlovich bout on a two-fight losing skid, having been knocked out by Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes.
Current UFC heavyweight rankings have Overeem at #7 and Oleinik not too far behind at #9.
UFC St. Petersburg takes place on April 20th and will be streamed live on ESPN+.