This past weekend’s heavyweight fight that wasn’t, Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi, has quickly been rescheduled.
Following the bout dropping off the UFC Columbus card due to Latifi falling ill, it has been moved to UFC 273 on April 9. UFC officials announced the move on Monday via the promotion’s official website. Oleinik also confirmed the new date via social media.
Oleinik (59-16-1) will be looking to snap a three-fight skid when he takes on Sweden’s Latifi (15-8, 1NC). In his past three bouts, Oleinik has fallen to Derrick Lewis, Chris Daukaus, and Sergey Spivak. At 44, he is the oldest active UFC fighter, and unquestionably the most experienced, with over 75 professional fights to his name.
Latifi recently returned to the win column, picking up a split decision victory against Canadian Tanner Boser. The victory marked Latifi’s first win as a heavyweight in the UFC.
UFC 273 takes place April 9, 2022 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The following bouts have been reported for the card thus far:
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Chan Sung Jung – for the UFC featherweight championship
Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan (ic) – for the UFC bantamweight championship / title unification bout
Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks
Dricus du Plessis vs. Anthony Hernandez
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos
Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen
Aspen Ladd vs. Raquel Pennington
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi
