The light heavyweight showdown between Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir is on the move.
Originally scheduled for the UFC’s September 4 Fight Night event, Ankalaev vs. Oezdemir will now take place at UFC 267 on October 30 in Abu Dhabi. UFC officials announced the news Sunday following an earlier report by MMA DNA.
Dangerous 205ers enter the mix for #UFC267 👀
🇷🇺 @AnkalaevM vs 🇨🇭 @Volkan_Oezdemir
[ @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi | https://t.co/d9jOMvdgGb ] pic.twitter.com/o10DZdIPZD
— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2021
The match-up pits the #7 ranked Ankalaev against the #8 ranked former title challenger Oezdemir, with the winner inching closer to title contention.
Ankalaev (15-1) is riding a six fight win streak at the moment, with his only loss inside the octagon coming against Paul Craig in the Dagestani’s promotional debut. During that six-fight streak, the 29-year old has earned three Performance of the Night bonuses.
Oezdemir (17-5) recently had a two-fight win streak of his own snapped, when he fell to Jiri Prochazka. Prior to the loss, he had picked up victories over Aleksandar Rakic and Ilir Latifi.
Switzerland’s “No Time” started off his UFC career on a tear, stacking up three dominant wins en route to a title shot against then-champ Daniel Cormier. Since being finished by DC, however, Oezdemir is just 2-3, with additional losses to Dominick Reyes and Anthony Smith.
UFC 267 is expected to be headlined by another big light heavyweight fight: champ Jan Blachowicz will make his second title defense when he takes on Brazilian veteran and former title challenger Glover Teixeira. The card is expected to air live and free on ABC.
Currently, the event consists of the following bouts:
Jan Błachowicz (c) vs. Glover Teixeira – for the UFC light heavyweight championship
Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan – for the UFC bantamweight championship
Li Jingliang vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Shamil Gamzatov
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba
Walt Harris vs. Tai Tuivasa
Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento
Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura
Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ricardo Ramos
Makwan Amirkhani vs. Tristan Connelly
Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yaozong
