Match Preview: UFC Fight Night - Lewis vs Oleinik - 8/8/2020

Match Preview: UFC Fight Night – Lewis vs Oleinik

The UFC is keeping the summer fights rolling along with another Fight Night from the APEX center in Las Vegas. UFC Fight Night will be headlined by the big boys, as heavyweights Derek Lewis (23-7 18 KOs) and Aleksei Oleinik (59-13 46 SUBs) do battle inside the octagon.

The Black Beast Derek Lewis is looking to make it three wins in a row and find himself back in position at another shot at the Heavyweight title. Lewis is one of the division’s hardest hitters, as evident by his 18KOs and a fan favorite with his post-fight celebration and interviews. Known for his power, Lewis has stated since having knee surgery last year, he has felt better than ever and now thinks he can live up to his potential. Hard to imagine, but Lewis had such physical pain with his back and knee that instead of training hours on top of hours daily to get better as a fighter, he could only train 30 minutes a day. Yes, a fighter who is 14-5 in the UFC, has fought five former champions or title challengers could only work out for half an hour a day due to his body betraying him.

But with this knee hopefully fully fixed, Lewis is looking to work his way back into another crack at the gold. He lost his one shot back in 2018 to then-champion Daniel Cormier. Now ranked fourth in the division and with a win on a three-fight win streak, he’ll be that much closer to another chance for UFC gold.

Across the cage from Lewis will be The Boa Constrictor Aleksei Oleinik, who has fought in 4 different decades. Yikes. The Soviet Union fighter started his career back in 1996 and is one of the toughest and lethal grapplers in the world. He has used ten different techniques to earn his 46 submission victories. The most being the Ezekiel Choke (14) and the Rear Naked Choke (11). Oleinik is also on a two-fight win streak and is ranked 10th in the division. A win over a top 4 contender will undoubtedly move the 43-year-old in the right direction if he is ever to get his first crack at UFC gold.

This is a pure matchup of striker vs. grappler. Of course, Lewis wants to keep the fight standing so he can land one of his heavy shots. But with a new knee, will his cardio hold up if he can’t get the Russian out of there in the first round? Can Oleinik avoid the lunch boxes known as Lewis’s fist long enough to grab ahold of him and get him to the mat? Time will tell as these two are indeed looking for a stoppage victory either by putting someone to sleep or making them tap.

In the co-main event, we will see former Middleweight champion Chris Weidman (14-5 6 KOs) take on Omari Akhmedov (20-4 7 KOs).

The former champion is moving back down to the division he once ruled over after an unsuccessful attempt at going up to 205lbs. Weidman has dealt with several injuries over the years, which forced him to change up the way he carried himself outside the cage. He even went on a diet so he can be smaller in the offseason, so the cuts to 185 weren’t so taxing.

The former champ is 1-5 in his last six outings with all of his losses coming by way of KO/TKO. To say he needs a win is an understatement, but the Long Island native has shown in some of his losses that he is still a top-level talent, and was just caught by some mean shots from his opponents. A win would be a confidence booster and might be what is needed to get Weidman back in the rankings for another climb up the ladder.

Looking not to let that happen is another Soviet Union fighter in Akhmedov who has been on a tear since 2016 going 5-0-1 over that time. Three of his four losses came while he tried his luck at Welterweight, but coming back to 185lbs, he’s 3-0-1. The 11th ranked Middleweight is looking to add a former champion to his list of victims as he looks to start making some noise at 185lbs for more significant matchups.

Looking for statement wins, UFC Fight Night will give us another night of exciting fights from Las Vegas. Be sure to tune into ESPN+ for the action and check back here on franchisesportsmedia.com for teh recap and more on MMA and all other sports.

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-Kalani Lua – Franchise Sports Media

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