A heavyweight bout between Walt Harris and Aleksei Oleinik is the latest addition to May’s UFC on ESPN+ 8 lineup.
MMAjunkie on Tuesday verified the matchup between Harris (11-7 MMA, 4-6 UFC) and Oleinik (57-11-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) 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+ 8 takes place May 4 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
Harris, 35, who has been with the UFC since 2013 over multiple stints, earned what should have been the biggest win of his career against ex-champ Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232 in December. He failed his fight-night test, though, and was suspended for four months while his win was overturned despite proving a tainted supplement. “The Big Ticket” gets a big fight just days after his suspension is up, though, with the fight at UFC on ESPN+ 8.
He meets Oleinik, the No. 15-ranked fighter in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings. The Russian submission specialist is coming off a first-round finish of Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 136 in September and has won four of his past five UFC fights.
With the addition to the card, the UFC on ESPN+ 8 lineup now includes:
- Derek Brunson vs. Elias Theodorou
- Juan Adams vs. Arjan Bhullar
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Brad Katona
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Andrew Sanchez
- Mitch Gagnon vs. Brian Kelleher
- Vince Morales vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Leah Letson vs. Sarah Moras
- Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Nordine Taleb
- Walt Harris vs. Aleksei Oleinik
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 8, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
