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Fun fact: Oleinik fought nearly as many times in 2008 (11) as Greene has in his entire career (12) heading into this meeting this weekend at UFC 246. For the record, Oleinik went 9-2 that year.
This is one of those matchups that is going to tell us exactly where each man stands in the heavyweight division, which is currently dealing with congestion at the top of the rankings, but is wide open beyond that.
Oleinik went 2-0 in 2018 with a pair of submission wins, but was stopped in the first round in each of his 2019 appearances, first in a short-notice date with Alistair Overeem in St. Petersburg, Russia and then in just 12 seconds against Walt Harris in July. The 71-fight veteran is as crafty as they come on the ground, and rebounded from his only other two-fight slide by rattling off 11 consecutive victories, a streak capped by his first two UFC appearances.
A semifinalist on Season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter, Greene earned victories in each of his first three trips into the Octagon, but had that run of success halted in late October by Sergei Pavlovich. The towering 33-year-old, who wrapped up his camp with the crew at Factory X Muay Thai, will only have a two-inch reach advantage on Oleinik, but should be considerably quicker and more agile than his 42-year-old counterpart on Saturday night.
Will that be the difference-maker or will the cagey veteran drag this fight to the ground and secure another submission victory?