Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A heavyweight matchup on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next
pay-per-view has gone through a change in opponent a little over a
week before it will take place. Ariel
Helwani first broke the news on Thursday that Alexey
Oleynik will no longer be competing at UFC
270. The well-traveled Russian submission artist was slated to
take on Greg Hardy
(7-4, 1 NC) on the main card of the PPV, but in his stead will be
Sergey
Spivak (13-3). The news was immediately confirmed by additional
outlets. The two are expected to compete on the main card of
this event, although it is unclear if the change in opponent for
Hardy will shift his matchup to the prelims.
Spivak will be stepping in on a little over a week’s notice, and he
will be looking to bounce back after a first-round knockout defeat
to Tom
Aspinall in September 2021. That loss to Aspinall put an end to
a three-fight win streak where he defeated the likes of Carlos
Felipe, Jared
Vanderaa and, in his last victory, Oleynik. “The Polar Bear”
has only gone the distance three times in his 16-fight MMA career,
posting a solid finish rate of 85% as a pro.
The former football star Hardy will be going from a submission
specialist in Oleynik to a more wrestling-centric opponent in
Spivak. He will do so in hopes of putting an end to a two-fight
knockout stretch where he fell short to Marcin
Tybura at the end of 2020 and Tai Tuivasa
in mid-2021. Hardy’s stoppage rate is quite close to his new foe’s,
with 86% of his wins ending by knockout. Since joining the roster
in 2019, Hardy has defeated the likes of Maurice
Greene, Juan Adams
and Yorgan De
Castro, with a decision over Ben Sosoli
overturned after Hardy used a banned inhaler between rounds.
UFC 270 carries on at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan.
22, with heavyweights on tap for the headliner. In its main event,
Francis
Ngannou and Ciryl Gane
will attempt to unify their belts against one another. In the
co-main attraction, Brandon
Moreno and Deiveson
Figueiredo will complete their flyweight championship trilogy
against one another. Additionally, the high-flying Michel
Pereira will face newcomer Andre
Fialho on the main card as well in an exciting short-notice
welterweight scrap.
