Derrick Lewis vs Alexey Oleinik To Headline August 8th UFC

Derrick Lewis vs Alexey Oleinik is going down in a heavyweight headliner this Summer. As was reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, sources indicate that the two have verbally agreed to this main event bout. The August 8th fight is a consequential heavyweight tilt with Lewis and Oleinik being ranked at #4 and #11 respectively (as per UFC’s official rankings). The Black Beast is looking to add another one to the highlight reel. Hopefully in a way that can secure him another world championship fight after losing his prior title bid to Daniel Cormier at UFC 230 in November 2018.

Both men have two-fight winning streaks heading into this prizefight. Lewis picked up a pair of decision victories over Blagoy Ivanov and Ilir Latifi. Conversely, The Boa Constrictor picked up his dual wins over Maurice Greene via second-round armbar and via decision over former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Oleinik surprised a lot of pundits and fans with his upset of Werdum and the Vai Cavalo loss has sent a ripple effect through the division. A win here would jettison the master of the Ezekiel Choke into the higher end of the top ten.

The heavyweight landscape is an intriguing one to observe right now. Not just with the Cormier vs Micoic trilogy going in August and knockout leviathan Francis Ngannou occupying the title challenger spot for the winner of the rubber match. #5 ranked Junior Dos Santos and #6 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik test each other’s skillset at UFC 252. Yet another highly important bout for the hierarchy of the heavyweight division. Another that also happens to be going down in August. Also this weekend, #3 ranked Curtis Blaydes and #7 ranked Alexander Volkov lock horns.

Derrick Lewis vs Alexey Oleinik

Not much else is known about this event. Except for one other intriguing bout at middleweight.

Chris Weidman vs. Omari Akhmedov is also scheduled for Aug. 8, sources tell @bokamotoESPN and I. First reported by @MikeBohnMMA.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 16, 2020

Due to the lack of the promotion officially announcing anything as of yet. Presumably, the event will be taking place in Las Vegas.

Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

See Full Bio