Volkan Oezdemir vs. 'Shogun' rebooked, now headlines UFC Fight Night 134 in Hamburg

It didn’t take long for UFC officials to rebook a key light-heavyweight fight.

Officials today announced a fight between rising contender Volkan Oezdemir (15-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and former champion Mauricio Rua (25-10 MMA, 9-8 UFC) – which was recently pulled from Chile’s UFC Fight Night 129 co-main event slot – is now set to headline UFC Fight Night 134 in Germany (via Twitter):

UFC Fight Night 134 takes place July 22 at Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. It’s expected to air on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, and the full fight card and bout order will be announced in the coming months.

Oezdemir, who’s No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, couldn’t make it to the May 19 card in Santiago due to visa issues related to recent assault charges. However, he’ll maintain his matchup with No. 13-ranked Rua – now a few months later than originally expected.

For Oezdemir, a 28-year-old Swiss fighter, now has a chance to add an ex-titleholder to his body of work. “No Time” came up short of the 205-pound belt, himself, in his most recent octagon outing after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 in January. It snapped a five-fight winning streak for the eight-year pro, who has 11 knockouts in 15 career wins.

“Shogun,” meanwhile, was supposed to rematch Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night 117 in September but was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury that required surgery. The 36-year-old vet, who had a brief UFC title reign from 2010-2011, has now been out of action since March 2017, though he recently resurrected his career with a three-fight winning streak that includes victories over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Corey Anderson and Gian Villante.

For more on UFC Fight Night 134, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.