UFC 224: A Full Recap on Fansided

UFC 224: Aleksei Oleinik submits Junior Albini with 11th career Ezekiel choke

Here is how the UFC 224 heavyweight fight between Aleksei Oleinik and Junior Albini played out on the preliminary card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On Saturday, May 12, heavyweights Aleksei Oleinik and Junior Albini collided in the third of the four preliminary bouts at UFC 224. Oleinik and Albini was the only matchup on the prelims which featured top-15 fighters in their respective divisions. It was also a fight in which both fighters were looking to rebound from losses in November 2017

It is hard pressed to not find a stronger heavyweight warrior than the 40-year old Oleinik. He had fought in almost every MMA affiliation you can think of, including a brief stint in Bellator MMA in 2010. The native of Kharkiv, Ukraine made his professional fighting debut back in 1997 when he defeated Igor Akinin by submission in the IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 2.

But against Albini, Oleinik made his seventh UFC appearance as he looked to rebound from his TKO loss to Curtis Blaydes back at UFC 217.

For Albini, the 27-year old brown belt in jiu-jitsu was fighting back in his home country of Brazil since August 2016 when he was a member of Aspera FC. Albini lost his last fight by decision against Andrei Arlovski at Fight Night Norfolk.

He came into the fight as the No. 14 ranked heavyweight looking to make a splash in front of his home crowd.

Oleinik came into the fight with a seven-inch reach advantage (80-74). Albini came in as the Vegas odds favorite at -160. Here is a full recap of what happened between the two heavyweight warriors at UFC 224.