UFC Fight Night 136: Hunt vs. Oleinik | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Roe Jogan
- May 20
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 136: Hunt vs. Oleinik took place on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia — broadcast exclusively on UFC Fight Pass. The card drew 22,603 fans for a gate of $1,840,000 — the sixth highest attendance in UFC history at that time. It was the first UFC event in Russia and the promotion’s 21st country visit. The UFC arranged to use half of the venue with a modified seating configuration.
Aleksei Oleinik submitted Mark Hunt by rear-naked choke at 4:26 of round one, earning Performance of the Night. Jan Blachowicz submitted Nikita Krylov by arm triangle in round two, earning his bonus. Magomed Ankalaev earned Performance of the Night in his UFC debut. Petr Yan earned a bonus for his second consecutive UFC win. The card was heavily populated with fighters from Russia and former Soviet states, giving the debut a local-flavour character across all weight classes.
First UFC in Russia — Olimpiyskiy Stadium & 22,603 Fans
The Olimpiyskiy Stadium — Moscow’s primary indoor arena — has a full capacity exceeding 35,000. The UFC’s modified half-stadium configuration for 22,603 produced an intimate fight-venue atmosphere while generating the attendance numbers that reflected Russia’s enthusiasm for its first UFC event. The $1,840,000 gate at a Fight Night event — not a PPV — demonstrated the Russian market’s commercial potential for the UFC brand. Russia had produced multiple UFC fighters but had not previously hosted an event.
The card’s matchmaking reflected the debut market strategy: domestic fighters and former Soviet region fighters were placed throughout the card to give local audiences familiar faces at multiple weight classes. Kunchenko, Emeev, Murtazaliev, Khabilov, Ankalaev, Dvalishvili, Taisumov, and Yan all competed — giving the card a genuinely Russian character rather than simply a foreign-held event with an international card transplanted to a new location.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, September 15, 2018 (FIRST UFC IN RUSSIA — 21st country)
📍 Venue: Olimpiyskiy Stadium (modified half-stadium configuration), Moscow, Russia
👥 Attendance: 22,603 (6th highest in UFC history at the time!)
💰 Gate: $1,840,000
📺 Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass EXCLUSIVE
🏆 Main Event: Mark Hunt vs. Aleksei Oleinik — HW (Hunt New Zealand KO artist; Oleinik Russian submission specialist; Oleinik’s hometown)
✅ Result: Oleinik def. Hunt via Submission (RNC) — R1, 4:26 (PoN $50k; Hunt’s FIRST SUBMISSION LOSS IN 8 YEARS, 2,912 days; Oleinik’s 5th UFC HW submission)
Main Event: Oleinik Submits Hunt in Round One
Hunt’s career had been defined by KO power — 10 of his 13 wins by KO entering Moscow. His defensive record against submissions was formidable: he had not been submitted since September 2010, a span of nearly eight years and 16 fights. Oleinik’s career was defined by the opposite: 44 of his professional wins by submission, with a 79% submission win rate. His UFC HW run had added five submissions to his record, tied with Stefan Struve for second most in divisional history behind Frank Mir’s eight.
The first round produced the Hunt leg kick damage that compromised his movement, followed by Oleinik’s takedown and his rear-naked choke application. Hunt’s attempt to escape with a hand under the choke was unsuccessful; Oleinik’s submission control produced the tap. The 22,603 Moscow crowd’s reaction to Oleinik’s hometown victory was one of the UFC’s most celebrated Fight Night main event finishes of 2018. The result was Oleinik’s second consecutive UFC HW submission win.
Blachowicz Builds, Ankalaev Debuts, Yan’s Run & The Card
Magomed Ankalaev’s UFC debut Performance of the Night was the Moscow card’s most significant long-term individual result. Ankalaev was a 26-year-old Makhachkala, Russia LHW sambo specialist making his first UFC appearance. His debut finish of Marcin Prachnio in the LHW preliminary fight demonstrated the power and technique that would eventually produce the UFC LHW Championship at UFC 282 in December 2022. Petr Yan’s second consecutive UFC win — his BW fight in Moscow following his Singapore debut — was another step in his championship trajectory.
Full Results
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Aleksei Oleinik def. Mark Hunt — Submission (RNC) — R1, 4:26 — HW (PoN $50k; Hunt’s 1st sub loss in 8 years/2,912 days; Oleinik’s 5th UFC HW sub tied Struve for 2nd all-time)
Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Andrei Arlovski — Unanimous Decision — HW (Abdurakhimov Russian HW; Arlovski career decline continues)
Aleksei Kunchenko def. Thiago Alves — Unanimous Decision (29-28x2, 30-27) — WW (Kunchenko Russian WW; Alves career winding down)
Khalid Murtazaliev def. CB Dollaway — MW (Murtazaliev Russian MW building career)
Ruslan Khabilov def. Kajan Johnson — LW
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Magomed Ankalaev def. Marcin Prachnio — LHW (PoN $50k; ANKALAEV’S UFC DEBUT; Makhachkala Russia; future UFC LHW champion at UFC 282 December 2022!)
Petr Yan def. Jin Soo Son — BW (PoN $50k; Yan’s 2nd consecutive UFC win; building toward BW championship at UFC 251 July 2020)
Ramazan Emeev def. Stefan Sekulic — WW (Emeev on 6-fight win streak)
Merab Dvalishvili def. Terrion Ware — BW (Dvalishvili bouncing back after Simon guillotine loss at FN128; building BW career)
Magomed Taisumov def. [opponent] — LW (Taisumov Russian LW building career)
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Aleksei Oleinik + Jan Blachowicz + Magomed Ankalaev + Petr Yan — $50,000 each (4 PoN)
Records & Milestones
• First UFC event in Russia (21st country) — 22,603 attendance, 6th highest in UFC history.
• Magomed Ankalaev’s debut PoN — first event result for the future UFC LHW champion.
Legacy & Impact
Petr Yan’s Moscow win was his second in two UFC fights, continuing the BW career build that produced six consecutive UFC wins before the championship at UFC 251 in July 2020 against Jose Aldo. Merab Dvalishvili’s Moscow win after his guillotine choke loss to Simon at FN128 was a bounce-back that started a remarkable UFC BW winning streak. The UFC returned to Russia for UFC Fight Night 151 in Moscow in April 2019, demonstrating the market’s continued commercial viability.
FAQ
What made the Moscow attendance record significant?
At 22,603, the Moscow event’s attendance was the sixth highest in UFC history at the time — a remarkable achievement for a non-PPV Fight Night event. The UFC’s largest Fight Night attendances previously had been in Australia and Brazil. Moscow demonstrated that European markets — particularly those with a strong local-fighter representation on the card — could generate PPV-level attendance figures for Fight Night cards. The half-stadium configuration meant the actual felt capacity was lower, amplifying crowd noise and atmosphere.
What was Hunt’s submission loss significance?
Hunt had not been submitted since a loss to Cheick Kongo on September 25, 2010 — a span of 2,912 days and 16 fights. His defensive submission record across that period had included fights against submission specialists (Bigfoot Silva, Frank Mir) without being submitted. Oleinik’s rear-naked choke of Hunt was the result of Oleinik’s takedown and choke application in a scenario that Hunt’s previous submission defence had avoided for nearly a decade.
Who was Magomed Ankalaev before his UFC debut?
Ankalaev was a 26-year-old Makhachkala, Dagestan LHW who had gone 10-0 professionally before his UFC debut. His sambo background and physical LHW attributes — reach, power, and wrestling base — were well-suited to the 205 lb division. His UFC debut PoN finish of Polish LHW Marcin Prachnio demonstrated his finishing quality from the start. His subsequent UFC LHW career went 9-1-1 before the championship fight at UFC 282.
What was Blachowicz’s LHW career context?
How significant was the UFC’s Russian fighter representation?
The Moscow card featured Oleinik, Kunchenko, Murtazaliev, Emeev, Khabilov, Ankalaev, Taisumov, and Yan — 8 fighters with connections to Russia or the former Soviet region, appearing across HW, WW, MW, LW, LHW, and BW. The breadth of Russian UFC representation reflected Russia’s sambo and combat sports heritage as a talent pipeline. No previous UFC international debut had produced as many local fighters across as many weight classes in a single event.
What was Petr Yan’s position after Moscow?
Yan was 2-0 in the UFC after Moscow, with wins over Teruto Ishihara in Singapore and Jin Soo Son in Moscow. Both fights had produced bonus-quality performances. His 13-1 overall professional record and two consecutive UFC bonus wins placed him as a BW division contender with championship trajectory. His subsequent UFC BW career produced wins over John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera, Urijah Faber, and Jose Aldo before the championship at UFC 251 in July 2020.
References
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