Things don’t always go as planned in the fight game and as a veteran of the sport, UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem might know that better than anyone.
Overeem brings 61 (44-17) professional MMA fights with him into his main event clash with Aleskei Oleinik at UFC Saint Petersburg. Oleinik boasts 69 professional fights to his name (57-11-1), putting Overeem in the unusual position of being the fighter with less professional experience.
And it wasn’t originally supposed to be that way.
Alexander Volkov (30-7) was initially slated to stand across the Octagon from Overeem in UFC’s second foray into Russia, but health issues forced him to withdraw from the bout.