Knee Injury Knocks Volkan Oezdemir Out of Oct. 17 Bout With Nikita Krylov

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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

A post shared by Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) on Oct 1, 2020 at 5:38am PDT

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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.