Preview: UFC Fight Night 211 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas returns from a one-week break with UFC Fight Night 211, which features a solid preliminary slate that includes a bit more name value than usual. That is particularly true of the top two bouts: Former headliners Ilir Latifi and Alexey Oleynik are matched at heavyweight atop the undercard and should provide some manner of entertainment, while onetime women’s strawweight title challenger Jessica Penne looks to hold serve against surging prospect Tabatha Ricci. Meanwhile, Krzysztof Jotko and Brendan Allen square off in a middleweight affair that could earn the victor a ranking at 185 pounds, and festivities figure to get off to a hot start with bantamweight banger Randy Costa looking to continue his streak of exciting performances against Guido Cannetti.

Now to the UFC Fight Night “Dern vs. Yan” prelims preview:

Heavyweights

Ilir Latifi (15-8, 8-6 UFC) vs. Alexey Oleynik (60-16-1, 9-7 UFC)

ODDS: Latifi (-175), Oleynik (+150)

Oleynik was a fun addition when the UFC picked him up in 2014. Already nearly two decades into his career, “The Boa Constrictor” figured to bring a nice change of pace to the proceedings with his array of unorthodox chokes and neck cranks. However, between Oleynik’s age and the seemingly low-percentage nature of his approach, he was not expected to be much more than a curiosity, particularly after a knee injury in 2015 obviously slowed him down. As it turns out, Oleynik was skilled enough—or the heavyweight division was flawed enough—for him to make some hay, stringing together enough wins to make him a viable UFC Fight Night headliner and fringe title contender. Oleynik never got that one win to put him into true contention, and age has now caught up with him. He looked mostly ineffective as part of a three-fight losing streak that finally ended with an April win over Jared Vanderaa. That was enough to save Oleynik’s spot on the roster at 45 years old, and perhaps he can put together some momentum with a win against fellow battle-tested veteran. Latifi made his UFC debut under unorthodox circumstances back in 2013, stepping in on days’ notice for teammate Alexander Gustafsson to headline a card in Sweden against Gegard Mousasi, after which he carved a niche for himself as an entertaining mid-tier light heavyweight. Like Oleynik, Latifi’s approach has been something that could only work in the heavier weight classes. A bowling ball of a man, Latifi gets by on either massive single power punches or just by relying on his own physical strength in the clinch. After a 2019 loss to Volkan Oezdemir, Latifi decided to relocate to heavyweight—a move that had some potential but has not worked out particularly well. Latifi might not have the requisite level of heavyweight durability, and whether it is because of age or caution, he has adopted an even slower-paced style that functions almost entirely due to his wrestling game. He lost an extremely low-output grind to Derrick Lewis but did manage to ride that approach to a controversial decision win over Tanner Boser in June 2021. It is unclear how that will fare here. This is a strange fight. Latifi will surely at some point put himself in position to fall victim to one of Oleynik’s unorthodox submissions, but the Swede may have the right combination of strength and stockiness to prevent the finish, especially as his counterpart’s effectiveness continues to diminish. The situation is not any easier to call on the feet. Oleynik is wild enough with his pressure that Latifi could turn his lights out with one big counter. With that said, Latifi’s output has been so low since his move to heavyweight that it is hard to bet on him bracing himself enough to actually throw. Without an early finish, neither man has much in the way of cardio. For as much of Oleynik’s recent career has been dependent on such stoppages, he might actually have the cardio advantage given his willingness to fight through exhaustion. It is difficult to trust either man, which means this may actually go on for 15 sweaty minutes. Latifi is likely to be the one in the more dominant positions, so that means he gets the nod, ugly as it may be. The pick is Latifi via decision.

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Ricci vs. Penne
Silva vs. Ronson
Jotko vs. Allen
Grishin vs. Lins
Stoliarenko vs. Chandler
Costa vs. Cannetti