Volkan Oezdemir vs. Nikita Krylov Added to Stellar UFC 280 Card

After decimating Alexander Gustafsson inside the first round at UFC London, Krylov, the 37-fight mixed martial arts veteran called out fellow light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir. His wishes have been answered as the duo is scheduled to fight at the stellar UFC 280 card in Abu Dhabi.

Nikita Krylov vs. Volkan Oezdemir: The matchup and initial breakdown

Stakes will be huge when these two European powerhouses will lock horns inside the Octagon. Considering both fought at the UFC London card in July, this will be a quick turnaround for both competitors.

Krylov’s confidence will be at an all-time high after his flawless victory over former three-time world title challenger Alexander Gustafsson. ‘The Mauler’ has been regarded as one of the greatest UFC fighters to never hold a UFC championship. His reputation speaks for itself due to his tightly contested back-and-forth fights with Octagon legend Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. Nikita Krylov ran through him from the beginning of the fight, dropping and wobbling Gustafsson twice before finishing him at the 1:07 mark of the first round. The spectacular performance earned Krylov a performance bonus.

Although, not as spectacular as Nikita Krylov’s win in London, Volkan Oezdemir’s main card opening performance was special in its own way. Oezdemir won a lopsided decision against Paul Craig, who was on a four-fight winning streak with notable submission victories over Jamahal Hill and the Krylov.

Volkan Oezdemir stuffed every takedown attempt and defended successfully on multiple submission attempts from Craig throughout the fight while dishing out punishment in the standup, where he had the power and technical advantage. Oezdemir was coming off back-to-back losses against current UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka and Magomed Ankalaev. A victory against a top 10 contender in Craig proved that the former title challenger is still one of the best in the division.

The duo was previously booked to fight at UFC Fight Night 180 in October of 2020, but Oezdemir had to pull out of the scheduled fight due to a knee injury. As per early predictions, odds will be fairly even in the matchup between two divisional stalwarts. Both have the power to hurt each other on their feet but the grappling advantage likely goes to Nikita Krylov.

UFC 280 Brings a Stacked Lineup to Abu Dhabi

This light heavyweight encounter will most likely take place on the main card of the already scheduled UFC 280 event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Charles Oliviera and Islam Makachev will be headlining the event in a showdown for the vacant lightweight championship, while the undisputed bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will defend his belt for the second time against former two-time bantamweight titleholder TJ Dillashaw.

The card also includes a lightweight clash between top 10 contenders Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot, a massive welterweight matchup between Belal Muhammad and Sean Brady, and rising star Muhammad Mokaev looks to keep his undefeated streak alive against Malcolm Gordon.

Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images

Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images