[ad_1]
Aleksei Oleinik gave Fabricio Werdum a rude welcome back to the octagon on Saturday at UFC 249.
Oleinik (59-13-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) produced a surprising, but highly effective, strategy of outperforming the former UFC heavyweight champion for most of all three rounds to secure a split decision victory (28 -29, 29-28 and 29-28), despite a late Werdum rally (23-9-1 MMA, 11-6 UFC).
Oleinik attempted to jump over the rust of Werdum’s cage as he landed to the right in the first few seconds that he received some respect from the Brazilian. Oleinik continued to push, throwing more powerful punches than any of his previous UFC fights, and with great success. Werdum really struggled to get his images, and quickly found himself in survival mode. Werdum tried to tie Oleinik and work from the clinch, but he couldn’t get out and beat Oleinik making it one of the best rounds of his career.
Oleinik’s confidence in the feet was further enhanced to start the second round. He went down Werdum, and even threw a spinning fist. Werdum could only try to tie him up, then made a move to drag the action to the ground. However, Oleinik did not have it and managed to create distance. The midpoint of the fight then hit, and fatigue became very evident in Oleinik’s body language. Werdum fired to complete an easy takedown, changing the complexion of the fight in an instant. Werdum couldn’t keep him on the mat, and Oleinik got back to his feet and worked his hitting game for the rest of the round.
Werdum had a great moment in the final round when he put Oleinik on the ground and had the opportunity to threaten a submission. Werdum had the angle for one arm, but Oleinik remained patient and calm to escape and enter the guard. Werdum attacked from below with a kimura and managed to flip Oleinik to do really dangerous things, but he couldn’t finish. Werdum then went for a bare rear choke, then an arm, but couldn’t. Oleinik stood up, where he worked hitting at close range before being knocked down. Werdum had a great late effort, but it was not enough to influence the judges.
Oleinik’s split decision nod marked the first time he won on the cards since August 2010.
The heavyweight fight was part of the UFC 249 preliminary card at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. It aired on ESPN / ESPN + after the preliminaries on UFC Fight Pass / ESPN + and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.
Updated UFC 249 results include:
Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via TKO (medical stoppage) – Round 3, 3:37
Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
