Athletes
Aleksei Oleinik Constantly Wants A Challenge
UFC Heavyweight Aleksei Oleinik Will Try And Add To His Legacy By Submitting Ilir Latifi At UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan
Aleksei Oleinik rarely thinks about the records and time he has spent as a mixed martial artist. Sixty professional wins over the span of a 26-year career and Oleinik only thinks about it when people bring it up to him.
At the end of the day, he’s only focused on his opponent, and this weekend at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan, that’s Ilir Latifi.
“I think about this fight, I prepare for this fight in the same gym as before, I prepare with the same coaches, with similar techniques and I just prepare for this fight,” Oleinik said. “I don’t think about numbers, I think about my opponent and only the opponent. I’ve fought for 26 years. Step by step, opponent by opponent, fight by fight. I think about it only when asked about it. I think about Ilir Latifi and only about this fight. That’s it.”
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When you’ve fought for as long as Oleinik has, you start to wonder how someone can make things different enough during each training camp to continue to provide a challenge and get better. Oleinik said that this training camp wasn’t easy for him, and though it was difficult, he’s ready to go.
And there is one thing that is different for each camp that allows Oleinik to challenge himself.
Aleksei Olienik Submits Jared Vanderaa| UFC 273: Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie
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Aleksei Olienik Submits Jared Vanderaa| UFC 273: Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie
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“The main difference is in my brain; I start to prepare for each opponent in my brain,” Oleinik said. “Of course, the main things that I do are the same. I do condition training, wrestling, techniques for takedowns and defense for everything, and my favorite and not my favorite striking techniques. Some things change special for my opponents, and nany things are different.”
During training camps, Oleinik trains with partners that are bigger, heavier, and stronger than he is. The heavyweight wants to be prepared for anyone and at any size, and he believes that maybe that’s why he has been able to fight for so long and have the success he has had.
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The 45-year-old does his homework on his opponents but doesn’t overthink it. He just focuses on the task at hand.
“He’s a really strong guy, he’s not easy,” Oleinik said. “It’s not easy to punch, it’s not easy to wrestle with him; he’s a good guy, strong opponent. He’s not too tall, he’s very strong, he has short, but strong, arms and legs and he is a wrestler. I am a wrestler, too, and that’s why it is more difficult for me.”
Oleinik and Latifi were originally scheduled to face each other in March, but the day of the event, Latifi withdrew from the fight due to illness, so the bout was rescheduled two weeks later at UFC 273. However, Latifi withdrew again, and Oleinik faced Jared Vanderaa, winning via scarf hold at 3:39 of the first round.
Latifi has never been submitted in his career. Will Oleinik be the first one to do it? That’s a mystery until fight night.
“Nobody knows,” Oleinik said. “I hope yes, Latifi hopes no. This is one more challenge for me and one more challenge for him.”
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It’s hard for Oleinik to pick out one specific moment that he’s proud of when he looks back at his career. And even though the 45-year-old understands that the end of his career might be approaching, he isn’t focused on that. He is appreciative of the fact that he gets to fight with the best athletes in the world and set records that will be remembered for a lifetime.
“It’s been a very long career,” Oleinik said. “Nobody fights as long as me, 26 years. I am not near the start of my career, but near the finish. I am not on a very small promotion to fight; I fight with the best of the best in the world. Of course, that’s proud for me. My professional record is the biggest in the UFC with the best of the best in the world.”
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
