Dave Chaffee vs. Oleg Petrenko: Will Dave’s hand be too much for Oleg’s toproll.

With Michael Todd officially banned from EVW, Oleg Petrenko steps in as his replacement, and the former light heavyweight champion arrives in Budapest facing a task unlike anything in his recent history, because after several years of dominating the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions against opponents built to roughly his own proportions, he now competes outside the weight class he made his name in and meets Dave Chaffee, a 6 ft 2 veteran who carries a superheavyweight frame into the 115kg division for the heavyweight interim world title.

Oleg Petrenko EVW 27 preview

Record on right arm: 5-3 EVW, 1-0 KOTT

Height: 5′10″ (180 cm) 

Age: 30 

Weight for the fight: 115 kg (253 lbs)

Last right arm fight: 0-4 defeat against Michael Todd

Main Armwrestling move: Heavy backpressure driven toproll

Versatility: High

Dave Chaffee EVW preview

Record on right arm: 3-6 EVW, 3-2 KOTT 

Height: 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) 

Age: 49 

Weight for the fight: 115 kg (253 lbs)

Last right arm fight: 1-4 defeat against Ivan Matyushenko

Main Armwrestling move: Sidepressure heavy toproll

Versatility: High

Point of interest

Dave has already shown his class in this division, and his victory over Todd Hutchings, one of the deadliest armwrestlers in EVW history, along with the wins over Frank Lamperalli and Ibragim Sagov, tells you exactly what he is capable of when his sidepressure lands early. Oleg answers with the dominance he built in the lighter classes, and he has not lost to a traditional toproller in several years, with his last defeat to an orthodox puller coming against  “the Perfect Storm” himself and the G.O.A.T. of armwrestling, John Brzenk.

Breakdown

Oleg uses his backpressure to open his opponents up and leave them vulnerable, and when that is paired with his elite sidepressure it produces such an insane amount of force that has already beaten Kydyrgali Ongarbaev, David Dadikyan, Nuzgari Chikadze and Todd Hutchings, which makes it clear he arrives in Budapest as a threat to the division rather than a stand-in for a banned fighter.

How might this match go

With Oleg putting everything into his backpressure and Dave driving sideways, the result comes down to which man’s move is stronger in the first seconds of the pull. If Dave’s sidepressure initiation opens Oleg’s arm, it is over quickly for the Ukrainian, but if Oleg holds the start, it will not take long for him to drag Dave into a grinder and bleed him out over a long, heavy pull.

Prediction

I assume if Dave wins it would be decisive but I can’t say the same about Oleg, to me his victory can only come from a long grueling battle where both athletes would be gasping for air as their arms will be pumped from the amount of pressure they’d be forced to generate and endure at the same time.

Dave Chaffee vs. Oleg Petrenko Start time, how to watch

Dave and Oleg would fight on 24 October 2026, 1:00 p.m ET. The match would stream on EVW Sports.