The main event of this month’s UFC on ESPN+ 7 card in Russia has experienced a change on just 17 days’ notice.
With Alexander Volkov (30-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) no longer able to compete in the heavyweight headliner, Aleksei Oleinik (57-11-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) will now meet Alistair Overeem (44-17 MMA, 9-6 UFC) on the card.
MMA Junkie verified the change with a person close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN.com. The person request anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 7 takes place April 20 at Yubileyniy Arena in St. Petersburg. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
Overeem, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA heavyweight rankings, will attempt to continue his latest climb toward another UFC title shot at the event. The former Strikeforce and DREAM champ is 3-2 since his first bid at UFC gold in September 2016, but is coming off a big first-round finish of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night 141 in November.
He draws No. 15-ranked Oleinik, who has now been in the headlining spot of both the UFC’s events in Russia. The submission specialist tapped out Mark Hunt in the promotion’s debut in the country at UFC Fight Night 136 in September, and was keen on getting another highly ranked opponent. He was scheduled to fight Walt Harris at UFC on ESPN+ 8 next month, but has been pulled from that bout in favor of the matchup with Overeem.
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 1 p.m. ET)
- Alistair Overeem vs. Aleksei Oleinik
- Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Marcelo Golm vs. Sergei Pavlovich
- Devin Clark vs. Ivan Shtyrkov
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Antonina Shevchenko
- Alen Amedovski vs. Krzysztof Jotko
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 10 a.m. ET)
- Movsar Evloev vs. Muin Gafurov
- Sultan Aliev vs. Keita Nakamura
- Teemu Packalen vs. Alexander Yakovlev
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Marcin Tybura
- Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Rafael Fiziev vs. Magomed Mustafaev
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 7, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
