Volkan Oezdemir is out of his Oct. 17 co-main event.
After an initial report from RT Sport, Oezdemir (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) posted on his social media that a knee injury has forced him out of his matchup vs. Nikita Krylov, which was scheduled to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It is unknown if the UFC will find Krylov (26-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC) a replacement.
“I’m devastated… I won’t be able to fight due to a knee injury. I apologize to @danawhite @ufc @mickmaynard2 my opponent @nikitakrylovufc and all the fans. I’ll rest and work on the fastest recovery possible to be back in that octagon ASAP 🌋👊”
Oezdemir is coming off a second-round knockout loss to former RIZIN light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in July. Prior to that, he picked up back-to-back wins over Ilir Latifi and Aleksandar Rakic.
With the change, the current lineup for UFC’s Oct. 17 event includes:
- Brian Ortega vs. Chan Sung Jung
- Nikita Krylov vs. TBA
- Jessica Andrade vs. Katlyn Chookagian
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Ciryl Gane
- Poliana Botelho vs. Gillian Robertson
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Jimmy Crute
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Magomed Mustafaev
- Muslim Salikhov vs. Claudio Silva
- Jun Yong Park vs. John Phillips
- Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Maxim Grishin
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Mark Striegl
- Mounir Lazzez vs. David Zawada
- Jamie Mullarkey vs. Fares Ziam
