A heavyweight fight between Aleksei Oleinik and Ilir Latifi has been added to UFC Columbus.
Multiple sources informed BJPENN.com that Oleinik and Latifi have signed to fight one another at UFC Columbus on March 26. The card does not have a main event after Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic was pulled from the headlining spot.
Aleksei Oleinik (59-16-1) is 44-years-old and on a three-fight losing streak. The Russian was booked to face Greg Hardy at UFC 270 but he had to pull out with an injury. He last fought back in June where he dropped a decision to Serghei Spivac after being TKO’d by Chris Daukaus in February. The losing streak started with a TKO loss to Derrick Lewis in a main event scrap.
Oleinik has been a pro since 1996 and has been in the UFC since 2014. During his time with the Las Vegas-based promotion, he holds notable wins over Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, Travis Browne, and Mirko Cro Cop.
Ilir Latifi (15-8 and one No Contest) is coming off a split decision win over Tanner Boser back in June. It was his second fight at heavyweight after he lost a split decision to Derrick Lewis at UFC 247, which marked his third loss in a row. During that run, he suffered a TKO loss to Volkan Oezdemir and a decision loss to Corey Anderson. The Swede has been in the UFC since 2013 and has fought the likes of Jan Blachowicz, Gegard Mousasi, Ryan Bader, and beat Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux among others.
Latifi was booked to face Alexander Romanov on February 19 but Romanov was forced out of the scrap with an injury.
With the addition of Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi, UFC Columbus is as follows:
- Askar Askarov vs. Kai Kara-France
- Neil Magny vs. Max Griffin
- Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Ribas
- Sara McMann vs. Karol Rosa
- Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi
- Matt Brown vs. Bryan Barberena
- Joanne Wood vs. Alexa Grasso
- Tucker Lutz vs. Seung Woo Choi
- Montel Jackson vs. Danaa Batgerel
- David Dvorak vs. Matheus Nicolau
- Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
- Nate Landwehr vs. Lerone Murphy
- Marc Diakese vs. Viascheslav Borschev
- Luis Saldana vs. Bruno Souza
Who do you think will win, Aleksei Oleinik or Ilir Latifi?