Aleksei Oleinik
Born Name: Oleksíy Oleksíyovych Olíynyk
Date of Birth: June 25, 1977
Place of Birth: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Height: 1.88 m
Weight: 110 kg
Reach: 207 cm (81 in)
Education: Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute
Children: Alex Oliynyk, Polina Oliynyk

Alexey Alexeyevich Oleynik (born June 25, 1977, as Oleksíy Oleksíyovych Olíynyk) is a Ukrainian-born Russian mixed martial artist and combat sambo fighter currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, competing in their heavyweight division. He began his professional fighting career in 1997, and is a veteran of M-1 Global, ProFC and IAFC and has competed for Bellator, KSW and YAMMA Pit Fighting. He is the only fighter to win a UFC fight via Ezekiel choke, and has done so twice. Oleynik also holds the record for most Ezekiel choke wins in MMA competition, with twelve. As of July 30, he is #10 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Grappling career
During his training camp with K-Dojo Warrior Tribe in April 2011, Oleynik participated in two Grappling tournaments, he won the Absolute division in an Eddie Alvarez hosted grappling tournament, and also won the Men's black belt No-Gi Advanced Superweight (210 lbs and over) division in the Grapplers Quest "Beast of the East 2011" tournament.

Oleinik made his return to grappling in a superfight against multiple-time World Champion Gordon Ryan on December 12, 2019 at Quintet: Ultra. He lost the match quickly by kneebar.

Mixed martial arts career
Oleynik originally started MMA to prove himself to be strong. “I just wanted to prove to myself and others that I could be strong, to protect yourself and others. Then, it turned out that I do it very well, and became my profession.”

Oleynik represented Russia for the Imperial Team in the M-1 Challenge 2009 season, where he defeated Sang Soo Lee. Alexey has highly regarded submission grappling skills which he developed from his background in training in traditional Japanese jujutsu and competition in Combat Sambo. He fought Robin Gracie trained Spanish BJJ black belt Rogent Lloret in a fight that ended in a draw. After his loss to Chris Tuchscherer he went 12 fights without a loss. That streak came to a halt when he lost via TKO in the first round against Michal Kita at the ProFC Heavyweight Grand Prix 2009.

Bellator MMA
In the summer of 2010, under the tutelage of K-Dojo Head Coach Murat Keshtov, Oleynik participated in the inaugural heavyweight tournament for Bellator Fighting Championships. He faced Mike Hayes in the opening round and won the match via split decision.

In his next bout he was stopped in the semi finals by Neil Grove. He lost via TKO, referee stopped the fight at 0:45 of the opening round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
In November 2013 Oleynik announced that he signed a contract with the UFC, and was expected to face Jared Rosholt on January 25, 2014, at UFC on Fox 10. However, Oleynik was forced out of the bout with an injury and Rosholt was pulled from the card altogether.

In his debut, Oleynik faced fellow newcomer Anthony Hamilton on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens. He won the fight via scarf hold headlock submission early in the first round.

The rescheduled bout with Jared Rosholt took place on November 22, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 57. Oleynik won the fight via knockout in the first round. The win also earned Oleynik his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

In an interview on September 9, 2015, Oleynik indicated that he had been sidelined by multiple knee surgeries and subsequent rehabilitation. Oleynik said he has no intention of retiring and expects a possible return sometime in the middle of 2016.

Oleynik next faced Daniel Omielańczuk on July 13, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 91. He lost the fight via majority decision.

Oleynik next faced Viktor Pešta on January 15, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 103. He won the fight in the first round via Ezekiel choke, the first in UFC history and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus. In unbelievable circumstances, it was executed while in Pešta's "full mount" position, where it is very rarely seen executed without the usage of a 'gi. However, the Ezekiel choke technique was not new to Oleynik, who had already won 12 fights by the same submission earlier in his career.

Oleynik faced Travis Browne on July 8, 2017, at UFC 213. He dropped Browne with a right hook in the first round and showed his superior grappling when he won the fight via submission, due to a rear-naked choke (with a modified grip and without a complete full back mount) in the second round.

Oleynik faced Curtis Blaydes on November 4, 2017, at UFC 217. The referee stopped the fight in the second round after Blaydes delivered an illegal kick to a downed opponent and called a doctor to check on Oleynik. The fight was stopped due to the doctor's advice. The replay, however, showed the strike did not deliver significant damage (as it only grazed the ear), and the fight was ruled a TKO win for Blaydes.

Oleynik faced Júnior Albini on May 12, 2018, at UFC 224. He won the fight in the first round via Ezekiel choke, marking his second win via this rare choke in the UFC. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Oleynik was briefly linked to a bout with Fabrício Werdum on September 15, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 136. However on May 22, Werdum was flagged for a potential USADA doping violation and his status moving forward is unknown. Oleynik instead faced Mark Hunt on the card. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round. This marked Oleynik's 45th submission win in his MMA career. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Oleynik was expected to face Walt Harris on May 4, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 150. On April 3, 2019 news surfaced that he was withdrawn from the bout in order to headline UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Overeem against Alistair Overeem after Alexander Volkov had to withdraw.

Oleynik faced Alistair Overeem on 20 April 2019 at UFC Fight Night 149, replacing Alexander Volkov. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.

The bout between Oleynik and Walt Harris rescheduled for July 20, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 4. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Oleynik faced Maurice Greene on January 18, 2020 at UFC 246. He won the fight via a submission in the second round. This win earned him a Performance of the Night award. As a result, Oleynik became the first in history both to compete and secure a victory in an MMA fight across four different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s).

Oleynik was scheduled to Fabrício Werdum on May 9, 2020 at UFC 250. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout eventually took place on May 9, 2020 at UFC 249. Oleynik won the fight by split decision.

Ahead of his fight with Lewis, Oleynik parted ways with his long time management company representatives, First Round Management. He stated that he wanted a manager that would focus on all fighters, not just the top two or three fighters in their stable.

Oleynik faced Derrick Lewis on August 8, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 174. When he announced he was taking another fight, Oleynik "received a message in a bottle" on the beach of Miami, signed his contract and sent it back to Dana White and Mick Maynard. When asked if Oleynik planned on retiring any time soon, he jokingly responded that he has "only 10 years left." He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.

Personal life
Oleynik is married and has 5 children between the ages of 2 to 16. He and his family moved to Florida in December 2016. The eldest of which, Polina, attends Stoneman Douglas High School, and was present at the school during the mass shooting but was unharmed.

He is a naturalised Russian citizen, and expressed support towards Russia following its 2014 military intervention in Ukraine. He wore a shirt with Putin's face and as a result was denied entry into Ukraine.

News article is edited by: soni - 8-11-2021, 18:17