Derrick Lewis and Aleksei Oleinik meet in the main event of the UFC on ESPN+ 32. These two veteran fighters hope to win and extend their row of positive results, which would later allow them to have more attractive and lucrative matches. Both of them are among the top 10 in the UFC heavyweight division.
Derrick Lewis -225The American is a former heavyweight title challenger, who dropped his chance to win the belt against Daniel Cormier at the UFC 230 in November 2018. After that, he suffered a TKO defeat to Junior dos Santos, and bounced back into the saddle with two decision wins. The first was against Blagoy Ivanov and the lastest one versus Ilir Latifi.
The Black Beast, as the fans call this guy, is a strong, massive fighter, who holds wins over Francis Ngannou and Alexander Volkov, but his skillset is highly doubtful. Apart from incredible strength, he isn’t very versatile and crafty when it comes to other areas of fighting.
Aleksei Oleinik +175This guy is a walking legend. Although he never won any belts in the UFC, or participated at one title match, the Boa Constrictor left a massive mark in the MMA history. He is the first fighter to compete and win a contest in four different decades; is considered the best ever wrestler in the sport and currently holds the place of the oldest person in the UFC heavyweight division.
The Russian had the same situation as Lewis in recent times. He would post two losses, and then two wins afterward. Oleinik suffered first-round KOs against Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris (the latter lasted just 12 seconds) and after that defeated Maurice Greene and Fabricio Werdum.
Prediction
These two guys are not in the elite company of the division, but we expect to see an interesting fight here. Almost the entire MMA community is curious to see which style would prevail, Lewis’ stand up striking, or Oleinik’s wrestling.
Both of the participants are veterans, the American 35 years, and the Russian 43, and that suggests that the one who is in better shape would have a massive edge.
Right now, after seeing him perform in the last two battles, Lewis should be that fighter. Eight years is a big difference, especially at this level, and his win is ProSports’ pick.
Pick: Lewis -225
What are your thoughts about the upcoming match?