Ilir Latifi vs Alexey Oleynik UFC Fight Night 205 Odds, Time, and Prediction

UFC comes to Ohio this weekend with the 205^th edition of UFC Fight Night. Nationwide Arena in Columbus will serve as the host venue of the event, in which the headliner fight is Curtis Blaydes vs Chris Daukaus, which we’ve already previewed.

The headliner might be the biggest bout of the night, but there are a few others that shouldn’t fly under the bettors’ radar. One of those is the heavyweight fight between Ilir Latifi and Alexey Oleynik. If you take a look at the odds section below, you’ll see that bookmakers see Latifi (15-8) as the favorite. Still, Oleynik (59-16) sure has the experience needed to do well in a fight like this.

Ilir Latifi vs Alexey Oleynik Odds (UFC Fight Night 205, 2022) 

All odds are per FanDuel as of March 24.

Moneyline

Where and When to Watch

• Date: Saturday, March 26
• Time: ~9:00 PM EDT
• Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH
• Watch: ESPN

Ilir Latifi is 1-1 in the UFC Heavyweight Division

Latifi has a pretty decent record in his professional MMA career, but a big majority of his wins happened in the light heavyweight division. Since moving up a weight class, he’s 1-1.

His heavyweight debut happened back in 2008, but after fighting two bouts in that weight class, he moved to light heavyweight. That’s where he stayed until 2020 when he fought Derrick Lewis.

Although he managed to stay on his feet until the final bell, Latifi lost that fight by unanimous decision. The loss didn’t discourage him from continuing his heavyweight adventure. He came back to the octagon a year later to face Tanner Boser. This time, he won. However, it happened by slip decision even though he was favored to get the job done early.

Alexey Oleynik Trying To End His Losing Streak

Now a 44-year-old, Oleynik has fought 75 MMA fights in his professional career. He won 59 of those, with submission being the most common victory method.

When it comes to his losses, he’s suffered 16 of them in his 25+ years’ long career. What’s got to worry him is that three of those happened in his previous three fights. Another worrying fact is that two of those saw him lose by technical knockout.

This explains why the odds on Oleynik aren’t shorter despite the fact that he has experience on his side. Another explanation for this is that it’s very likely the crowd at Nationwide Arena is going to be against him. Even though he’s been living in the United States for five years, Ukraine-born Oleynik is famously a huge supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Ilir Latifi vs Alexey Oleynik Prediction

Oleynik who’s nicknamed Boa Constrictor seems to have the skills to beat almost any opponent by submission. The trouble is that Latifi probably isn’t going to let him come anywhere near him. Instead, the Swede is likely to try to knock out his opponent early on.

Pick: Ilir Latifi by knockout