UFC FIGHT NIGHT LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MOSCOW RUSSIA

We have our first ever UFC fight from Russia 2:00pm EST Saturday September 15th. This is very exciting for both the UFC and Russia as we will see some brand-new faces in the octagon looking to make a name for themselves. This card is truly an international card as we have fighters from, Russia, United States, Poland, South Korea, Canada, Georgia, Brazil, Belarus, Ukraine, and New Zealand. There are several veterans on this card as well as many first-time octagon fighters.

For this Fight night all fights including prelims are all on UFC Fight Pass. The action begins with the prelims at 10:30am EST followed with the main card at 2:00pm EST.

UFC Fight Pass Prelims | 10:30am EST

Merab Dvalishvili 7-3 vs Terrion Ware 17-7

Merab has two KO/TKO, one submission, and four decision wins. He has one first round win. He has won six of his last eight fights which includes a two-fight losing streak. He holds a black belt in Judo. He is a former Sambo Champ. He has one Fight of the Night bonus.

Terrion has six KO/TKO, three submissions, and eight decision wins. He has five round wins. Won four of his last seven fights and is on a three-fight losing streak. He has a black belt in karate and is very proficient in boxing.

Merab should utilize his judo and work some clinch work. He must keep the fight close and not allow Terrion any distance. Terrion needs to tap into his karate background and strike at distance and back out. He can’t get to close where he ends up in a clinch and gets taken down. Both fighters need a win tonight, but in the end, I see Merab winning tonight.

Ramazan Emeev 17-3 vs Stefan Sekulic 12-2

Ramazan has three KO/TKO, seven submissions, and seven decision wins. He has seven first round wins and is riding a six-fight win streak. He is a champion in Sambo. Likes to use clinch work to take the fight to the ground.

Stefan has three KO/TKO, six submissions, and three decision wins, Won eight of his last nine fights. This is his first UFC fight. Very unknow fighter. Of his six submission wins he has used the guillotine choke four times. So that is his go to move.

Tough fight to analyze. They are matched up very similar and I see the fight going to the ground. Fight will go the distance and Stefan will continue his winning streak.

Adam Yandiev 9-0 vs Jordan Johnson 9-0

Adam has three KO/TKO and six submission in his perfect record. All nine wins have been in the first round. He has a big background in Judo and narrowly missed being on the Olympic team. 2015 M-1 Fighter of the year as well as their middleweight champ in Russia.

Jordan has two KO/TKO, three submissions, and four decision wins. He has four first round wins and three of them were in under 62 seconds or less. Former Division 1 wrestler out of Iowa. Two-time All American, IBJJF No Gi World Champ.

Should be a very exciting fight. This fight will have a lot of ground work in it. Adam needs to utilize some ground and pound tactics and keep Jordan from being on top. Jordan needs to use his wrestling and have constant pressure. In the end Adam continues his winning ways.

Magomed Ankalaev 9-0 vs Marcin Prachnio 13-3

Magomed has four KO/TKO and five decision wins. He has three first round wins. Was a Greco Roman Champ and has a Sambo background.

Marcin has 10 KO/TKO, one submission, and one decision. He has 11 first round wins.  He has won eight of the last nine fights. Has six fnishes in under two minutes. Has a black belt in karate.

Exciting matchup. Going to be standing most of the fight. Magomed must get in close and use his wrestling and Sambo background to take the fight to the ground. Marcin needs to avoid all clinch work and takedowns. His opponent is very strong on the bottom. In the end Marcin gets another KO win.

Maribek Taisumov 26-5 vs Desmond Green 21-7

Maribek has 16 KO/TKO, eight submissions, and two decisions wins. He has 16 first round wins and has won 14 of his last 16 fights, which includes five in a row. His last five wins have been by KO. Is a Jiu jitsu champ in Austria, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. Has three "Fight of the Night" bonuses.

Desmond has five KO/TKO, one submission, and 16 decisions. He has three first round wins and has won six of his last eight fights. Division 1 Wrestler. Over 100 college wins. Two-time MAC Champ in college.

On paper fight looks good, but Maribek will be to much for Desmond. Maribek will look to use his strikes and gain another win. Desmond needs to close the distance and take the fight to the ground as soon as he can and use some ground and pound. In the end I see Maribek overwhelming Desmond in the first round for another win.

Rustam Khabilov 21-3 vs Kajan Johnson 22-13-1

Rustam has four KO/TKO, five submissions, and 12 decision. He has eight first round wins and won 11 of his last 13. Is on a five-fight winning streak. World and Russia Champ in Sambo. Has a win over Jorge Masvidal and a loss to Benson Henderson. Has one "Fight of the Night" bonus.

Kajan has eight KO/TKO, eight submissions, and six decision wins. Has won six of his last eight fights. Cast member on TUF Nations. Has a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Decent matchup for both fighters. Rustam will look to keep the fight standing and use his striking. Kajan wont mind the fight going to the ground and put his black belt to work. This fight will be both on the feet and the ground. In the end I see Rustam winning via judge’s decision.

Peter Yan 8-1 vs Jin Soon Son 9-2

Peter has four KO/TKO, one submission, and three decision wins. He has three first round wins and is on a four-fight win streak. He has an excellent boxing background.

Jin has four KO/TKO, two submissions, and three decision wins. He has two first round wins and is also on a four-fight win streak. Very good at scrambling. Adapts easily to his opponents.

Good solid fight between two unknow fighters. Their stats mimic each other’s very closely. I see this fight going back and forth for all three rounds and the winner will be Peter based on his aggression.

Khalid Mortazaliev 13-2 vs CB Dollaway 18-9

Khalid has 12 KO/TKO and one decision win. This is his UFC Debut. He is 8-2 in his last 10 fights. Looking to make a statement against a very tough veteran fighter.

CB has six KO/TKO, three submissions, and nine decision wins. Won six of his last 10 fights, which include two in a row. Former Arizona State Wrestler. NCAA All American, State High school champ. Has wins over Ed Herman and Hector Lombard. Has losses against former champ Michael Bisping, and former champ Lyoto Machida. He has one "Performance of the Night," one "Fight of the Night," and two "Submission of the Night" bonuses.

Tough challenge for Khalid’s debut. He needs to keep the fight on his feet and avoid the wrestling background that CB will use. CB will look to close the distance and take the fight to the ground. Watch for him to do a lot of ground and pound. He needs to keep the fight on the ground. In the end I see the vet CB with another win.

Main Card UFC Fight Pass2pm EST 

Alexey Kunchenko 18-0 vs Thiago Alves 27-12

Alexey has 13 KO/TKO, one submission, and four decision wins. He has five first round wins. Has an extensive Muay Thai and Judo background. Likes to utilize clinch work and work for a takedown from there. Once it hits the ground look for him to do some ground and pound. This is his UFC debut.

Thiago has 13 KO/TKO, one submission and 13 decision wins. Won 12 of his last 19 fights. six of those have been KO/TKO. Brazilian Muay Thai Champ. Has a brown belt in Jiu jitsu. Has wins over Patrick Cote, Josh Koscheck, and Matt Hughes. Has losses against George St. Pierre, Carlos Condit, and Jon Fitch. Has two "Fight of the Night" bonuses, one "Performance of the Night" bonuses, and one "Knockout of the Night" bonus.

Andrei Arlovski 27-16 vs Shamil Abdurakhimov 18-4

Andrei has 17 KO/TKO, three submissions, and seven decision wins. Has 13 first round wins. Won eight of his last 14 fights. Is a former UFC Heavyweight Champ. Multi Time Sambo Champ. Incredible KO power. When he was heavyweight champ, he was the lightest one in history often at times weighing in at a light heavyweight.  Has wins over Frank Mir, Travis Browne, Roy Nelson, and Tim Sylvia.

Shamil has eight KO/TKO, four submission, and six decision wins. Has 10 first round wins. Has won six of his last eight fights. He has wins over Jeff Monson and Anthony Hamilton. Former Kickboxing Champ. Started boxing and wrestling at a very early age.

Good fight between two heavy hitters. Andrei needs to pace himself. He is older and more experienced and needs to not rush the fight. He needs to pick and choose wisely his strikes. Shamil needs to push the pace on his older opponent. He needs to use his kicks as much as possible to keep Andrei at bay. In the end I see an upset with Shamil getting a win.

Jan Blachowicz 21-7 vs Nikita Krylon 25-5

Jan has five KO/TKO, eight submissions and eight decision wins. He has six first round wins. Is on a three-fight win streak. Has held titles in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. Wins over Jimi Manuwa and Houston Alexander. Has one "Performance of the Night," and one "Fight of the Night" bonus.

Nikita has 11 KO/TKO 14 submissions. Has an incredible 21 first round wins. Is on a four-fight win streak. Has a Karate background and was also ADCC Ukraine Champ. Has wins over Ed Herman and Francimar Barroso.

Tough fight for both guys. Jan needs to utilize his Muay Thai and use clinch work for strikes and a takedown. Nikita will look to go in strike and get back out in true Karate fashion. He has a great ground game that will be a better game plan for him. In the end fight will go all three rounds and Nikita comes out on top.

MAIN EVENT

Mark Hunt 13-12-1 vs Aleksei Oleinik 56-11-1

Mark has 10 KO/TKO and three decision wins. He has been around since 2004 in various organizations. Was a former K1 champ and fought for Pride. He has tremendous punching power. He holds a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. He has wins over Derrick Lewis, Frank Mir, Mirko Cro Cop, and Wanderlei Silva. He has two "Performance of the Night," two "Fight of the Night," and two "Knockout of the Night" bonuses.

Aleksei has eight KO/TKO and an incredible 44 submission and four decision wins. Has won 14 of his last 16 fights. Finished his last 15. two-time World Sambo Champ. Has wins over Travis Browne and Anthony Hamilton.

This may be a slug fest. Mark has 30 pounds over his opponent which can help but also hurt him. He weighed in at 265 pounds. He has a lot more mass to mover around but is most likely the stronger puncher as his history has reflected. Mark needs the fight to stay on his feet. If it goes to the ground, he needs to utilize his weight and have a heavy top pressure game. He needs to pace himself for this five round feature fight. Bigger guys tend to lose their steam in the third round and later.

Aleksei will look to capitalize on his 235 frame and be faster than Mark. He should look at pushing the pace and where the big Samoan out. He should be careful doing any clinch work as Mark can be dangerous with his power. He will need to get the fight to the ground quickly and stay op top and look for a submission.

In the end I see this being fight of the night. It won’t go all five rounds I give it three and Aleksei pulling off an upset on the Super Samoan Mark Hunt.

DraftKings Optimal Lineups

CASH

Salary

 

GPP

Salary

YAN

$9,600

 

OLENIK

$7,600

AROVSKI

$7,900

 

DOLLOAWAY

$7,800

ALVES

$7,200

 

KUNCHENKO

$9,000

KRYLOV

$8,200

 

DVALISHVILI

$9,200

KHABILOV

$9,500

 

PRACHINO

$7,100

SEKULIC

$6,900

 

EMEEV

$9,300