Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir announced for UFC 267
Written by Luck Wilson on August 31, 2021
Magomed Ankalaev welcomes Volkan Oezdemir back to the octagon in a bout between two light heavyweights looking to crack the top-10.
The UFC officially announced that Ankalaev, the No. 11-ranked light heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, will fight No. 13 Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 267 on Oct. 30 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
MMA DNA was first to report the new date for the matchup, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 4.
Ankalaev (15-1) has emerged as one to watch since losing his UFC debut via last-second submission to Paul Craig in 2018. He has bounced back with six consecutive victories, which includes finishes of Ion Cutelaba, Dalcha Lungiambula, and Marcin Prachnio. In his most recent outing in February, Ankalaev defeated Nikita Krylov via unanimous decision.
Oezdemir (17-5) is 2-3 since challenging Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title at UFC 220. This will be Oezdemir’s first fight since July 2020. He is coming off of a second-round knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka.
UFC 267 is headlined by a pair of title fights with Jan Blachowicz defending his light heavyweight championship against Glover Teixeira in the main event (with Prochazka serving as a backup fighter), and bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling rematching Petr Yan in the co-main event.
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