Oezdemir vs. Ankalaev set for UFC 267

Volkan Oezdemir is set to return after a year on the sidelines.

Volkan Oezdemir is set to return to the Octagon for the first time in over a year. Marcel Dorff reports that the former UFC light heavyweight challenger is set to face Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 267 on October 30.

That fight announcement adds another compelling match-up to UFC 267, which is due to take place on the so-called ‘Fight Island’. That event is set to be headlined by Jan Blachowicz defending his light heavyweight crown to Glover Teixeira. The co-main is scheduled to feature Aljamain Sterling defending his bantamweight title against Petr Yan.

The card also includes Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos, Li Jingliang vs. Khamzat Chimaev and Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba.

For a time Volkan Oezdemir was thought of as the future of the 205 lb division. When he entered the UFC, in 2017, he beat out Ovince Saint Preux with a split decision and then blasted through Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa.

Those wins earned him a shot at Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title at UFC 220 in 2018. Oezdemir came up short against Cormier, losing by second round TKO.

After that Oezdemir saw himself surpassed by a newer generation of 205 lbers, with losses coming to Anthony Smith, Dominick Reyes and—most recently—Jiri Prochazka.

Before his KO loss to Prochazka, Oezdemir had back-to-back wins over Ilir Latifi (by KO) and Aleksander Rakic (via controversial split decision).

Magomed Ankalaev is on a roll. After dropping his UFC debut to Paul Craig, in sensational fashion, the Dagestani has won six straight. Most recently he beat Ion Cutelaba with back-to-back TKOs (the first being an early stoppage) and defeated Nikita Krylov with a unanimous decision.