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.”