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Overeem bludgeons friend Oleinik to earn TKO win at UFC St. Petersburg

Steve Marcus / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Friend or foe, Alistair Overeem is taking you out in the first.

The veteran heavyweight earned his latest lightning-quick victory by beating Aleksei Oleinik via first-round TKO in the main event of UFC St. Petersburg in Russia.

Overeem sent his longtime friend to the mat with brutal knees before finishing him with strikes, though he appeared initially hesitant to ground-and-pound Oleinik.

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It's the second straight first-round knockout from Overeem and his 40th career stoppage.

Before beating Sergei Pavlovich in November 2018, Overeem fell out of title contention by losing back-to-back bouts to Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou.

Overeem said after the fight that he's still interested in facing his original opponent for the event, Alexander Volkov, and a win against him could put the 38-year-old right back in the heavyweight title picture.

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