Alexey Oleynik asked for Derrick Lewis fight, expects to keep on competing for another 7-10 years

Alexey Oleynik always wanted to share the Octagon with Derrick Lewis and he now gets the chance to do so.

In the main event of UFC Vegas 6, the Russian will be taking on Lewis. It is a very intriguing fight that the UFC wanted to headline the June 13 show according to Oleynik. But, he needed more time after his win over Fabricio Werdum.

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“We speak about this fight a couple of times. I asked UFC for this fight and they asked me to do this two weeks after I fought Werdum,” Oleynik said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I told them two weeks is not a good idea, if you paid a little bit more money, yes, I take it. After one month, they proposed this fight again. It is a much better time, I have time for recovery and preparation.”

Now that the fight week is here, Oleynik is excited as he told the UFC he wanted to fight Lewis. Although many don’t want to compete against “The Black Beast” the 43-year-old Russian wants to compete against the toughest and scariest people and Lewis is just that.

“Derrick Lewis is a big guy and has a big name. He is very high in top rankings. He is a cool guy and it is a good fight for me,” he said. “I want cool names, that is my goal, I don’t need easy fights, easy opponents. I only ask for big names.”

Entering this fight, Alexey Oleynik is a sizeable underdog but isn’t paying any attention to that. Instead, he is just focused on his skillset as he knows he has a path to victory on the ground.

But, the hope for the Russian is this fight doesn’t go five rounds as he says heavyweight main events are tough.

“I don’t like five rounds. Five rounds for heavyweights is very difficult. I hope it ends before five rounds. I hope I am ready to fight in the standup and ready for the ground. I’m ready for anything,” he said. “I just want to win, no matter submission or something else. That is my goal, no matter how I win, whether it is submission, KO, decision, doesn’t matter.”

If he pulls off the upset, Alexey Oleynik could very well be a top-five heavyweight in the UFC. But, he isn’t thinking about any of that or the path to the title.

Instead, he is focusing on beating Lewis and getting career win number 60.

“Guys, it is very difficult. If you try and fight one, two, three times you understand what I mean. You can fight five times and that is a professional career,” Oleynik explained. “If you fight 15-20 times, you had a very experienced career. It is an incredible, incredible experience.”

In the end, even though Oleynik is 43-years-old, he doesn’t see the end of his career just yet. In fact, he believes he could go another 7-10 years if he feels like it.

“Not too much longer, maybe 7-10 more years. Maybe one year, maybe five years no one knows. If I feel good, I am ready to fight. I’m sparring in the gym with young guys and big names from UFC, Bellator, I feel good,” he concluded. “If I’m worse than them, then yes I may retire. If I am not worse, maybe I am no better, but I’m not worse, so middle, so I’ll fight.”

Do you think Alexey Oleynik will beat Derrick Lewis?