Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir Set For UFC 214

Volkan Oezdemir called for it, and the UFC has granted his wish. The promotion announced on Wednesday that Oezdemir would fight Jimi Manuwa in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 214.

Oezdemir (14-1), who’s fresh off a UFC Fight Night 109 upset win over surging Misha Cirkunov this past weekend, called out Manuwa (17-2) for a fight. This bout will most likely serve as the co-main event as well be on standby if something happens to UFC 214’s main event between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones.

This is a key bout for the light heavyweight division as many believed that Manuwa should have received a title shot. However, those plans were put on hold for the grudge match between Jones and Cormier. This will likely be a #1 contender fight as Manuwa is currently ranked third while Oezdemir is ranked 5th in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings.

Oezdemir is currently on a four fight winning streak and is coming off a win over Cirkunov, whom he defeated 28-second knockout. On the flip side, Manuwa is a top contender in the division with recent back-to-back knockout wins over Ovince Saint Preux and Corey Anderson.

UFC 214 is set to take place on Saturday, July 29th at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. A portion of the preliminary card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, while the rest of the prelims will air on FOX Sports 1. The main card will air on PPV (pay-per-view). Cormier is set to defend the light heavyweight title against Jones in the main event. The bout order for the event has yet to be finalized, but you can see the updated card here:

Champ Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones – for light heavyweight title

Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir

Dooho Choi vs. Andre Fili

Chan Sung Jung vs. Ricardo Lamas

Renan Barao vs. Aljamain Sterling

Alexandra Albu vs. Kailin Curran

Josh Burkman vs. Drew Dober

Dmitrii Smoliakov vs. Adam Wieczorkowski

Jarred Brooks vs. Eric Shelton

Sage Northcutt vs. Claudio Puelles

Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega