Volkan Oezdemir Returns At UFC Chile Against Former Champion

Volkan Oezdemir

Former title contender Volkan Oezdemir has his next fight booked, and it’s going to be a challenge.

The promotion announced on Wednesday night that Oezdemir is slated to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua at UFC Fight Night 129 or better known as UFC Chile.

Rua comes into this fight after being on the sidelines for over a year now. He was last seen in the Octagon when he picked up TKO of Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 106 in March 2017. This win marked his third straight victory, which is the longest winning of his UFC career.

If you recall, he was supposed to rematch Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night 117 in September. However, that wasn’t meant to be as he was forced to withdraw from the contest due to a knee injury.

On the flip side, Oezdemir is looking to get back in the win column and on track to another title shot as he suffered a second-round TKO loss against Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 in January.

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UFC Chile is set to take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 at while the preliminary card will be split broadcasted on FOX Sports 1 at and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

Although the UFC has yet to announce the main event for this show, Volkan Oezdemir vs. Mauricio Rua could serve as the headliner. This card has yet to be finalized but here is the updated card:

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Mauricio Rua
Chad Laprise vs. Vicente Luque
Guido Cannetti vs. Diego Rivas
Alexa Grasso vs. Tatiana Suarez
Andrea Lee vs. Veronica Macedo
Poliana Botelho vs. Syuri Kondo
Henry Briones vs. Frankie Saenz
Jared Cannonier vs. Dominick Reyes