Alex Oliveira Steps In for Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at UFC 254

For the second time in as many days, the UFC has made a change to its UFC 254 fight card. In addition to adding Casey Kenney vs Nathaniel Wood to the lineup, the UFC had to find a replacement for Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos who was forced to withdraw from his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov.

And, like in the Wild West dime store novels where a cowboy rides into town to save the day, Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira will ride into the octagon to save this fight. He will also save the highly anticipated debut of Rakhmonov.

Oliveira, a UFC fan favorite, has bounced back and forth between the welterweight and lightweight divisions. At UFC 254, Oliveira will compete in the welterweight division against the unbeaten Rakhmonov.

Quick Preview of Oliveira vs Rakhmonov

Shavkat Rakhmonov (12-0) is an undefeated fighter from Kazakhstan. He was scheduled to make his UFC debut three different times since last year, but each bout ended up being cancelled.

His last fight came in June 2019 where he successfully defended his M-1 welterweight title against Tiago Varejao. Rakhmonov won via 1st round TKO, which was his 4th straight knockout victory.

All 12 of his pro fights have ended with Rakhmonov stopping his opponents. Seven victories have come via TKO/KO and five by way of submission. He’s only gone to the 3rd round just once.

Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira (21-8-1) is on a two fight win streak, which has improved his overall UFC record to 11-6. Oliveira last fought in July and defeated Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision.

17 of his 22 pro wins have come via stoppage with 12 by way of TKO/KO. He’s 5-3-2 when going the distance.

Some might say that Oliveira is a formidable gatekeeper in the welterweight division. However, one could argue that he still has enough talent to be a Top 15 fighter and not just a stepping stone for prospects. Prior to his three fight losing streak in 2018-19, Oliveira had won six of seven UFC bouts.

As of this writing, online betting sites have yet to release betting odds. Looking back at Oliveira’s recent betting history, we can see that he’s been a betting favorite in seven of his last eight fights. Dating back to his UFC debut, Cowboy has been the betting favorite in 12 of his 17 fights inside the octagon.

Oliveira is 3-3 when listed as the Underdog and 8-3 when listed as the betting favorite in the octagon. There is virtually no recorded betting data for Rakhmonov.

With Oliveira in the matchup against Rakhmonov, there’s a chance that the UFC could bump this fight to the PPV portion of UFC 254. If not, then this bout will be the main event of the prelims.

UFC 254 will be live on ESPN and PPV Saturday, October 24th from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The main card will have a special start time of 2PM ET.