For much of the first round, it looked like Aleksei Oleinik would upset Alistair Overeem in their main event heavyweight match at UFC Saint Petersburg.
The 41-year-old came out aggressive, landing a heavy shot that seemed to daze Overeem and send him into defensive mode against the cage. Oleinik would continue to connect with body shots through much of the first round, but each time Overeem would answer with knees of his own.
Winded from his early aggression, Oleinik seemed to dip his head a little too low during one of the clinches and Overeem managed to land a knee stike to the side of Oleinik's head. A wobbled Oleinik fell to the mat and Overeem quickly went to work with the ground-and-pound to force a stoppage at the 4:45 mark in the first round.
Check out the highlights and the finish below.
Overeem had nothing but positive things to say about Oleinik after the fight.
“He’s a very strong dude, he’s a veteran of the sport. We trained together, he’s a friend. I didn’t like to fight him, but I have to say the experience of fighting in Russia again, this is my third time, has been absolutely great. A lot of love from the fans, so it has been my pleasure to fight here and if it’s up to me I will be back. Let’s go.”
Overeem was originally supposed to fight Alexander Volkov, who was forced to withdraw due to health issues. “The fight did not happen tonight, but I’m very open to that fight in the future," Overeem, who improved to 10-6 in the UFC with the win, said.