Alexander Gustafsson vs. Volkan Oezdemir Agreed for UFC 227 in Los Angeles

A light heavyweight showdown between two former title contenders is in the works for UFC 227 as Alexander Gustafsson is expected to meet Volkan Oezdemir on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.

Gustafsson’s team confirmed the matchup in a statement issued on Monday following an initial report from ESPN.

“Alex is extremely hungry and excited to return to the Octagon. This is a championship level fight. If DC comes back the winner of this fight will face him. If not, you have the No. 1 & No. 2 fighting on August 4th. The focus is 100% on the belt. The fans win, and the Mauler is coming to the Staples Center.”

Now Oezdemir was already scheduled to fight on July 22 in a matchup against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in Germany but he’s being pulled from that card to face Gustafsson instead.

There’s no word yet from the UFC on this decision but it appears the promotion is searching for a replacement opponent to face Rua in three weeks time.

Oezdemir will be looking to bounce back from a loss to light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in January after starting his UFC career with three straight wins.

As for Gustafsson, the former two-time title contender has been anxiously awaiting his chance to compete again after inking a lucrative new contract with the UFC just recently.

Gustafsson has won his past two fights in a row including a TKO victory against fellow title contender Glover Teixeira in his last performance. Gustafsson had to deal with some injuries that kept him out for the majority of 2017 going into 2018 but now he’s healthy and ready to resume his chase for the title.

Gustafsson vs. Oezdemir joins a UFC 227 line up that also includes two title fights as T.J. Dillashaw takes on Cody Garbrandt with the bantamweight strap up for grabs while Demetrious Johnson faces off with Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo in flyweight championship bout.