Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. One week after a big
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight match was
announced, it has been pulled. The news first breaking from RTSport
on Thursday, Volkan
Oezdemir (17-5) has since confirmed on his Instagram that he
has been forced to pull out of his
UFC Fight Night 180 co-headliner. He was set to face Nikita
Krylov (27-7), but a knee injury has prohibited that contest
from going forward. It is unclear at this time whether the
promotion will elect to book a new opponent for Krylov or
reschedule the fighters for a later date.
Oezdemir was looking to bounce back from a dramatic knockout loss
to Jiri
Prochazka in July. The defeat his first by clean knockout
throughout his career, the heavy-handed striker has doled out
several of his own throughout the years with his knockout rate of
71 percent. The loss snapped a two-fight win streak over Ilir Latifi
and Aleksandar
Rakic – in the latter, he became the first man to beat Rakic by
decision.
Should he stay on the card, Krylov will be aiming to start his
first win-streak in a few years. Alternating wins and losses with
victories over Ovince St.
Preux and Johnny
Walker mixed in with setbacks to current champ Jan
Blachowicz and Glover
Teixeira, Krylov’s second stint with the promotion has been
more tumultuous than his first, where he went 6-3 before his
release in 2016. Four stoppages in other organizations within two
rounds brought Krylov back to the company.
UFC Fight Night 180 is going to be headlined by a featherweight
battle between Brian
Ortega and Chan Sung
Jung. The event also features women’s flyweight tilt with
former strawweight champ Jessica
Andrade moving up to 125 pounds to face ex-title challenger
Katlyn
Chookagian.
