Ilir Latifi Injured, UFC Stockholm Bout with Volkan Oezdemir Cancelled

.@UFC statement on #UFCStockholm :https://t.co/RukqilDrzH

— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 30, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's return to Sweden has taken a large hit, as the previously-scheduled co-main event between Ilir Latifi and Volkan Oezdemir has been cancelled.

According to the UFC on Thursday, Latifi (14-6, 1 NC) suffered a back injury and was forced to withdraw from his co-headlining light heavyweight scrap with Oezdemir (15-4) at UFC Fight Night 153. This event will take place on June 1 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, and the promotion has announced they will not be seeking a replacement opponent. Oezdemir will no longer be competing at the event.

Latifi was intending on bouncing back from a decision loss to Corey Anderson at UFC 232 in December. This is the third UFC bout he has withdrawn from due to injury since the beginning of 2018, as he was slated to face Ovince St. Preux in January 2018 before getting injured. He was also booked against Glover Teixeira for UFC Fight Night 134 last July and again pulled out after suffering an injury.

Oezdemir was looking to snap his three-fight losing streak, having suffered a knockout loss in a title fight to Daniel Cormier, tapping out from a rear-naked choke from UFC Stockholm headliner Anthony Smith and most recently dropping a split verdict to Dominick Reyes. The winless streak is the longest of his career, as prior to this span he had never lost consecutive fights before.

UFC Fight Night 153 takes place on June 1 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. The event will still be headlined by a light heavyweight battle between Alexander Gustafsson and Smith, and it will go ahead with 12 bouts on the card.