The maiden voyage of the UFC to Russia has not ended well for Mark Hunt.
In the early hours of Sunday morning (AEST), Hunt (13-13-1 MMA, 8-7-1 UFC) headlined the first ever UFC event in Russia at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow against Russian fighter Aleksei Oleinik (57-11-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
Unfortunately for Hunt, the fight did not go his way, suffering a first-round submission defeat due to a rear-naked-choke.
The Boa Constrictor strikes again!@OleynikUFC #UFCMoscow pic.twitter.com/31ZPEqVEL2
— UFC (@ufc) September 15, 2018
The fight, however, did start well for the 44-year-old from South Auckland. Oleinik was plodding forward looking to land an overhand right hand and grab a single leg takedown but Hunt was doing well to stay out of range while landing some heavy leg kicks to the Russians lead leg.
“I totally felt it,” Oleinik said of the leg kicks. “Probably three or four more of these and it probably would have affected the outcome.”
The kicks were busting up the lead leg of Oleinik and Hunt landed a solid right hand but the Russian took in his stride. Oleinik then landed a punch of his own that appeared to put Hunt off which gave Olenik the opportunity to grab a body lock on the back of Hunt and quickly drag him to the canvas. From there it was all but over as the submission expert controlled Hunt and quickly sunk in a rear-naked-choke on Hunt forcing him to tap at 4.26 of round 1.
The win was Oleinik’s second in a row and 12th rear-naked-choke of his career. Hunt has now lost two in a row after losing to Curtis Blaydes at UFC 221 earlier in the year.
“Congrats to the victor and enjoy the journey up,” Hunt said inside the cage after suffering the defeat
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