Alexey Oleynik: By The Numbers Featured on Sherdog.com

Alexey Oleynik: By The Numbers

By Mark Raymundo May 12, 2018

There are no secrets as to how Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Alexey Oleynik plans to attack his upcoming fight with Junior Albini.

Owner of a 55-11 win-loss record, the Russian will bring his feared submission game when he steps inside the Octagon for the seventh time at UFC 224 this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. He knows his much younger Brazilian counterpart can threaten from different angles, but “The Boa Constrictor” has an overwhelming experience advantage.

Oleynik currently shifts his training between American Top Team and the K-Dojo Warrior Tribe. Here is a by-the-numbers look at the decorated combat sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner ahead of his showdown with Albini:

40: Years of age and still in excellent shape. He currently sits at No. 10 in the UFC’s heavyweight rankings.

246: Pounds of firepower. Unlike most heavyweights, however, Oleynik does not rely as much on his punching power. Instead, he relishes submissions, particularly chokes, hence the reptilian nickname.

1: Fighter to win by Ezekiel choke inside the Octagon. What was most amazing was the fact that Oleynik executed the maneuver with opponent Viktor Pesta mounted on top of him — a rarely seen submission without the gi that he performed at UFC Fight Night 103.

10: Ezekiel choke wins outside the UFC. His list of victims: Jerry Otto, Sang Soo Lee, Jessie Gibbs, Alexander Timonov, Sherman Pendergarst, Timur Gasanov, Alavutdin Gadzhiyev, Adlan Amagov, Krzysztof Kulak and Shamil Nurmagomedov.

43: Submission victories in all. Oleynik has succeeded against various levels of competition. He submitted Travis Browne and Mirko Filipovic with neck cranks, Jeff Monson with a rear-naked choke and Karol Bedorf with a triangle choke.

35: Seconds needed to author his fastest finish — an Ezekiel choke submission on Magomed Sultanakhmedov in April 2006. Oleynik has tallied eight stoppages in under one minute.

2: Losses by submission. Oleynik fell prey to Leonid Efremov in 1997 and Flavio Luiz Moura in 2004, both by rear-naked choke.

8: Wins by knockout or technical knockout. He may be better known for his submission skills, but Oleynik’s hands are heavy enough. His most recent knockout win resulted from a picture-perfect left hook that sent Jared Rosholt to the canvas 3:21 into the first round at UFC Fight Night 57 on Nov. 22, 2014.

6: Hours of sleep a night makes for a lethal grappler. In an interview with Men’s Health magazine, he stressed the importance of sleep. While an average of six hours is all he could muster given his busy schedule, Oleynik makes sure to sneak in an extra hour or two during the day whenever possible.