Tag Archive for: UFC

Oleg Prudius Challenges Brock Lesnar to MMA Fight

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Former WWE Tag Team Champion “The Moscow Mauler” Vladimir Kozlov was recently a guest on The Roman Show. Kozlov said that he would like to challenge current WWE Universal Champion and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to a mixed martial arts fight.

Before signing with WWE back in 2006, Kozlov did have a fairly extensive background in various different forms of Martial Arts, including kickboxing, Russian Sambo, Judo, amateur wrestling, and Jiu-Jitsu.

Kozlov said the following on The Roman Show:

Wanting to face Brock Lesnar in an MMA fight:

“When I got signed with the WWE and when I was undefeated for a couple of years, fans wanted to see if I could fight Brock Lesnar. But at the time, I couldn’t find him because he left the WWE and he went to the UFC,” he said. “Since I left the WWE, he got back to the WWE from the UFC, so we couldn’t face each other. Right now everyone is asking me if I would challenge Brock Lesnar in an MMA fight. I am telling you if were to get this opportunity, I would like to face this animal. I would put in all my hard work. I will give up my productions. I’ll give up my movies, everything, to compete with the best athlete in the world, Brock Lesnar. He is strong, professional. I think the person who fights him deserves it because he is a legend. If I get this opportunity, I will train hard and face this animal. I spoke to Scott Coker of Bellator. At the time I was busy with productions,” he said. “I was in many projects because of traveling, but for a big fight like that, I will train and put everything on the table.”

Possibly returning to WWE in the future:

“WWE stays in my heart,” he said. “I am popular because of the WWE. When I used to wrestle, I created a fan base. Even in China, they know me because of WWE. The WWE is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. I didn’t think of joining the WWE because I was busy, but if the opportunity will come then we can figure it out. I have a management group who decides what we are supposed to do. Let’s see what happens.”

C.M. Punk’s MMA career:

“He is a great guy. He is a hard worker. This guy can sacrifice himself to follow his dream,” he said. “Since he left the WWE, his dream was to fight in the UFC. I think he can put on a very nice fight. I like C.M. Punk. He is a nice guy.”

View the story at Wrestling News Source.

Alexey Oleynik in Men’s Health

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The UFC’s Alexey Oleynik – How the 40-Year-Old ‘Boa Constrictor’ Stays in Elite Shape

By Vinnie Mancuso

At 40, Alexey Oleynik is one of the oldest fighters competing in the UFC. But it’s a different, far more impressive number that earned Oleynik his “Boa Constrictor” nickname: 45, the record-breaking tally of submission victories the Ukrainian grappler has collected over his 20-year MMA career.

The heavyweight — who holds an overall MMA record of 55-11-2, 4-2 in the UFC — took a moment away from training for his May 12 bout against Junior Albini at UFC 224 to chat with MensHealth.com.

SO HOW EXACTLY DOES THE 4O-YEAR GET INTO FIGHTING SHAPE?

“In reality, I’m already in top shape year-round,” Oleynik said through a translator. According to the fighter, the months before entering the octagon is more of a fine tune-up than anything. “It’s like a train. It’s already moving, you just want to get on the right rail and move in the right direction.”

That direction doesn’t involve as much maxing out as you’d expect from UFC’s heaviest weight class. “It’s concentrating more on endurance of the muscle than the size of the muscle,” Oleynik said.

He added that because he’s a “submission artist,” he doesn’t want to “put on big muscles, to look like an Adonis. If I develop a very big chest and look like a bodybuilder, it would be hard for me to choke somebody out.”

The Workout

Oleynik’s training camp consists of 14 to 16 sessions a week, broken down into hour-and-twenty-minute periods. The first 30 minutes is always dedicated to cardio, with a focus on keeping up explosiveness over a long period of time.

CARDIO (30 MINUTES)

For strength training, Oleynik focuses especially on repetition over weight. “If I’m doing 6 to 8 reps with the heavy weight, I develop more size. I don’t need that,” he said. “My coaches know I need lighter weight, 15 to 20 reps.”

STRENGTH TRAINING (50 MINUTES)

The most important exercise of the day, Oleynik said, is a classic combination of both cardio and strength training: the sit-up.

“When you’re doing sit-ups your diaphragm constantly gets compressed, so it throws you off in terms of breathing,” he said. “This is what happens in a fight. So every time my training is over, I go down and have to finish at least 100 sit-ups with a twist.”

Recovery

Oleynik broke down some of the recovery routines that have kept him mostly injury-free over a decades-long career.

NUTRITION

“The most important thing when it comes to recovery, and actually the entire process of training, is nutrition,” Oleynik said. As a heavyweight, the fighter is in the unique position of technically being able to gain as much weight as he wants. But the 40-year-old has been able to compete at a high level for so long because his diet still consists mostly of lean meat, vegetables, and natural fats. “I coach my body as a working machine. Whatever you put in your body, that’s the outcome you’re going to have. Whatever gas you put in a car, that’s how fast it’s going to go.”

SLEEP

“You must, must sleep during training,” Oleynik told us, a feat easier said than done for the father of five. “That’s the tricky part. Some of my kids are young, they wake up in the night, they have to pee, or they want to eat.”

On average, he says, Oleynik sleeps 6 hours a night, but makes sure to sneak in an extra hour or two throughout the day.

RELAXATION

For Oleynik, the recovery process is as mental as it is physical, training your mind to switch gears when you leave the gym. Usually this starts with either an ice bath or quick stay in the sauna, but then it’s putting the fight out of mind until the next session.

“What I’m trying to do is, I’m trying to switch my mindset,” Oleynik told us. “I’m going with my kids to the zoo, to the movies, doing family things. You have to switch your mind from all the hard work and totally relax. Totally zoom out and concentrate on something, anything else.”

View the story on MensHealth.com.

Alexey Oleynik’s Story Covered by MMA Fighting

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Alexey Oleynik felt ‘utterly helpless’ with daughter at Parkland school during shooting

On Feb. 14, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. was the site of the most recent major American school shooting. Seventeen people were murdered and another 14 were taken to the hospital as a result of the attack. It was one of the deadliest shootings in American history, and for the students and parents involved in the attack, it was a nightmare, including UFC heavyweight contender Alexey Oleynik.

Oleynik’s daughter, Polina Oleynik, is a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was in attendance on the day of the attack. Yesterday, a few weeks removed from the shooting, Oleynik wrote a piece for ABC News about what it was like for him while his daughter was in an attack like that one, calling the experience “terrifying” and saying he felt “utterly helpless.”

“Nothing in 52 professional fights was as terrifying as a text I received on Valentine’s Day from my 16-year old daughter, Polina,” wrote Oleynik.

View the full story on MMAFighting.com.

School Shooting Reminds Alexey Oleynik He’s a Father First

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ABC News Helps the UFC Fighter Share His Story

By Alexey Oleynik

As an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, I step into the Octagon and have to remain calm so I can face down the world’s most brutal athletes. Training to be physically and mentally ready for cage fighting demands that I assess my opponent’s fiercest skill — perhaps a left-leg kick or a knock-out jab — and develop a strategy to win.

However, nothing in 52 professional fights was as terrifying as a text I received on Valentine’s Day from my 16-year old daughter, Polina.

“Daddy, there is a shooting at my school.”

I read the text again just to make sure it was correct — it was. As the father of five kids, ages 2 to 16, I was consumed by thoughts of death and violence. My daughter is a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and was texting me from the mass shooting that would claim 17 lives and injure many more. Thankfully, Polina survived and was uninjured, but for several hours I struggled to retain the composure I have during fights. Her text reminded me that I am a father first, and a fighter second.My mixed martial arts nickname is “The Boa Constrictor” because I regularly choke my opponents into submission. But, this text, received as I was preparing to leave for Russia on a work trip, left me feeling utterly helpless. My daughter updated my wife and me with a text message every 10 minutes or so. Each text gave us the gift we wanted more than anything else — knowing she was safe, for now. Then, between each text, I felt powerless, feeling a growing sense of panic.

For a while, we watched the local television to learn some details, but we turned it off, horrified to see the unfolding scenes. This lack of control is every parent’s worst nightmare and was more harrowing for me than any UFC fight experience. In between Polina’s texts, we tried to figure out how to get close to the school to retrieve her.

The reality is, as a professional fighter, I have the luxury of preparing for months for each fight. I train my body to peak fitness and develop a mental strategy to overcome my opponent’s biggest threat. All that preparation, study, visualization and training gives me a tremendous feeling of control. When my daughter was sending me her texts, I was scared because I had no control over her situation.Eventually, we managed to get close enough to the school so we could pick up Polina. She had escaped unharmed, thanks to the brave assistance from her teachers and school staff. Just as my fighting career owes a great deal to advance preparation, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school staff had carried out many emergency drills. That preparation helped to keep the children relatively calm on the day of the shooting and probably reduced the number of casualties. Of course, many parents and relatives lost loved ones. My family sends our deepest condolences to each and every one of those families that are now grieving.

When I moved my family to Florida in December of 2016, at first I was attracted to the area because of the American Top Team training facility in Coconut Creek. UFC President Dana White has praised the team’s work, saying it’s among the few places capable of producing world champions. My wife and I also loved the schools, the great police and fire departments, the good housing, and the area’s low crime rate. It seemed like the ideal place to train and raise a family. For someone who hopes to soon become a naturalized U.S. citizen, this seemed like a small slice of heaven.

Despite the recent horror, I still feel that way. My daughter will continue attending her school and we will continue calling Florida home. Where we live was safe before this horrific shooting, and it remains a safe place now.

Now, we are trying to regain normality in our everyday lives.

On Monday, Polina left the house alone in her car — a normal experience for most Florida teenagers. As her father, I had to again relinquish my desire for control and let her try to enjoy the freedom she still has even after her recent, tragic ordeal. And, while I am relatively new to U.S. politics, I do know about the psychology of winning battles. More than anything, this experience reminds me that we cannot allow our spirit to be broken and for fear to overcome us.

In the long run in sports and life, strength and fortitude carry us through the hard times.

View the story on ABC News.

ALEXEY OLEYNIK CHOOSES IPZ

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UFC Fighter Signs with Sports and Entertainment Agency

WARREN, NJ, February 27, 2018 – Alexey Oleynik, a UFC fighter in the heavyweight division, has signed with IPZ, the company announced today.

“The Boa Constrictor” as Oleynik is also known, is a Ukrainian-Russian who stands at six-foot-one and weighs 241 pounds. Oleynik began his combat sports career in 1997 and has competed in grappling, Ju-Jitsu, combat sambo, and mixed martial arts events.

Since kicking off his professional career nearly 21 years ago, Oleynik has posted an overall record of 55-11-1. This spans across all leagues and competitions he’s participated in which include the UFC, Bellator, M-1 Global, KSW, YAMMA Pit Fighting, and many more.

In November 2013, The Boa Constrictor announced that he signed a contract with the UFC. Oleynik made his debut against Anthony Hamilton on June 28, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 44. He won the fight early in the first round.

A few months later, Oleynik competed in and won his second UFC fight against Jared Rosholt on November 22.

After a short stint away, due to injury, Oleynik returned to the octagon on July 13, 2016, and has been competing on a consistent basis since. He holds a 4-2 record in the UFC and has taken home Performance of the Night bonuses twice.

As of July 2017, Oleynik is ranked #11 overall in the official UFC heavyweight rankings.

Oleynik is set to take on Junior Albini in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 12, 2018 for his next UFC bout.

“My partnership with IPZ feels very natural to me,” said Oleynik. “IPZ’s goal is to position its clients in the best light to secure sponsorships and a successful post-athletic career. As a seasoned athlete, the possibility of retirement is always looming. The nature of combat sports is extremely unpredictable due to the injuries that can end fighter’s career at any moment. The uncertain reality of combat sports constantly forces me to think about life beyond competition, my future earnings, and my ability to continue to do what I love. IPZ recognizes the value in me by being a well-known athlete, especially in my native country Russia, and within the Mixed Martial Arts community around the world. As a current top UFC heavyweight fighter and one of the best grappling technicians in the world, I want to share my knowledge and experience of competing at the highest level with as many people as I can. IPZ presented me with a plan that addressed my concerns and will open a new and exciting chapter in my life. I am confident that with IPZ’s worldwide network, I will be able to maximize my exposure to my fans, MMA practitioners, and continue building my legacy.”

“We are thrilled to have an outstanding athlete in Alexey join the IPZ family,” said Director of Combat Sports Alec Savitsky. “Alexey is a top UFC heavyweight fighter and one of the best submission fighters in the world. With his upcoming – seventh career – UFC fight in Rio and beyond, we look forward to tapping into the possibilities of growing Alexey’s brand around the world.”

“Humble and kind. No, not the Tim McGraw song. That’s how I would describe Alexey,” said IPZ Managing Partner Robert Zito. “First impressions mean a lot. When Alexey walked into our meeting, I was taken by how humble he was. Here is a man who has not just excelled in his field for decades, but he has trained nine world champions. That is simply amazing.”

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

About Zito Partners: Zito Partners builds, energizes and defends brands. A boutique firm representing a select group of clients from a range of industries, Zito Partners believes in a “ready, aim, fire” approach – understand the client…develop the appropriate strategy against the key target constituencies…and execute against the plan. And through its strategic alliance with Ketchum, Ketchum Zito Financial, Zito Partners is assisting additional clients with their financial communications needs. For more information, visit www.zitopartners.com.