Sergey Spivak In for Alexey Oleynik at UFC 270 Against Greg Hardy

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A heavyweight matchup on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s next pay-per-view has gone through a change in opponent a little over a week before it will take place.

Ariel Helwani first broke the news on Thursday that Alexey Oleynik will no longer be competing at UFC 270. The well-traveled Russian submission artist was slated to take on Greg Hardy (7-4, 1 NC) on the main card of the PPV, but in his stead will be Sergey Spivak (13-3). The news was immediately confirmed by additional outlets. The two are expected to compete on the main card of this event, although it is unclear if the change in opponent for Hardy will shift his matchup to the prelims.

Spivak will be stepping in on a little over a week’s notice, and he will be looking to bounce back after a first-round knockout defeat to Tom Aspinall in September 2021. That loss to Aspinall put an end to a three-fight win streak where he defeated the likes of Carlos Felipe, Jared Vanderaa and, in his last victory, Oleynik. “The Polar Bear” has only gone the distance three times in his 16-fight MMA career, posting a solid finish rate of 85% as a pro.

The former football star Hardy will be going from a submission specialist in Oleynik to a more wrestling-centric opponent in Spivak. He will do so in hopes of putting an end to a two-fight knockout stretch where he fell short to Marcin Tybura at the end of 2020 and Tai Tuivasa in mid-2021. Hardy’s stoppage rate is quite close to his new foe’s, with 86% of his wins ending by knockout. Since joining the roster in 2019, Hardy has defeated the likes of Maurice Greene, Juan Adams and Yorgan De Castro, with a decision over Ben Sosoli overturned after Hardy used a banned inhaler between rounds.

UFC 270 carries on at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 22, with heavyweights on tap for the headliner. In its main event, Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will attempt to unify their belts against one another. In the co-main attraction, Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo will complete their flyweight championship trilogy against one another. Additionally, the high-flying Michel Pereira will face newcomer Andre Fialho on the main card as well in an exciting short-notice welterweight scrap.