The former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum was supposed to headlining the UFC’s debut in Russia. Yesterday UFC announced Werdum flagged for a potential USADA violation; as a result, UFC has taken quick action and are close to finalizing the main event.
According to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, UFC is planning to have Mark Hunt as the replacement opponent against Aleksei Oleinik to headline the UFC Moscow which is set to take place on Sept. 15. The news first reported by MMATeamDagestan.
⚡️BREAKING; In case of disqualification of Werdum Mark Hunt will replace Werdum in fight against Oleiynik at the #UFCMoscow
— MMA TEAM DAGESTAN (@MMATeamDagestan) May 22, 2018
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Mark Hunt is in the works for the UFC’s debut event in Moscow, I’m told. UFC forced to move on after Fabricio Werdum was provisionally suspended by USADA this week. The heavyweight fight, which is scheduled to be the main event, is close to being finalized.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 24, 2018
Alexey is coming off a first-round submission win (Ezekiel choke) over Junior Albini at UFC 224 and currently 3-2 in his last five fights. With an impressive performance, Oleynik banks $50,000 for Performance of the Night.
Mark Hunt 44, last fought at UFC 221 and dropped via unanimous decision to Curtis Blaydes back in February and has gone 1-2 in his last three fights.
UFC Moscow is set to take place on September 15th. No other fights have been announced as of yet.
