Aleksei Oleinik Admits He Couldn’t Submit Alistair Overeem When They Trained Together

Former training partners Aleksei Oleinik and Alistair Overeem will headline UFC Saint Petersburg this weekend (Sat. April 20, 2019). The show goes down from the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Speaking to MMA Junkie, Oleinik opened up about his past training sessions with Overeem. Oleinik said he hasn’t trained with “The Reem” for four or five years, but noted when they did share the training mat, he wasn’t able to submit him. Not even jiu-jitsu ace Fabricio Werdum was able to submit Overeem:

“The last time we trained together was four or five years ago,” Oleinik said. “I couldn’t do anything on Alistair, even in grappling. I thought I would be better in wrestling and grappling, but I couldn’t do anything to Alistair.

“I couldn’t choke him. I couldn’t submit him. He fought twice with Fabricio Werdum, and even Fabricio couldn’t submit him or choke him.”

Oleinik and Overeem are two of the most experienced heavyweights in mixed martial arts today. Overeem has 62 career MMA fights under his belt. As for Oleinik, he is heading into his 70th MMA fight. Overeem has said he doesn’t expect the fight to go past the second round.