The UFC returns to Canada this week for UFC Fight Night 138: Volkan vs. Smith in Moncton, New Brunswick, where the weigh-ins took place on Friday.
The Moncton main event features a light heavyweight showdown between two fighters trying to make a statement and get into a title fight in his next trip to the Octagon.
No. 2 ranked Volkan Oezdemir failed to wrest the belt from champion Daniel Cormier earlier this year, but with Cormier set to be stripped of the light heavyweight title when Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson rematch at UFC 232 at year’s end, he believes an impressive win over Smith should make him the next contender.
Smith, who has taken out two former champions (Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua) in a combined total of less the two-and-a-half minutes since moving to light heavyweight, similarly believes that he should be considered for a title shot if he can make a statement against Oezdemir.
Both fighters easily made weight on Friday; each of them tipping the scale at 205.5 pounds.
The UFC Fight Night 138 co-main event was initially slated to feature Artem Lobov against Zubaira Tukhugov, but Tukhugov was pulled from the fight for his involvement in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl after his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Lobov’s teammate, Conor McGregor.
Michael Johnson was called in for the co-headliner, but stepped on the scale at 147 pounds on Friday, putting him one pound over the featherweight non-title-fight limit.
The Lobov vs. Johnson bout was still under negotiation at the time of publication, but it was later reported that Lobov agreed to take the fight and will receive 20 percent of Johnson’s fight purse.
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UFC Fight Night 138: Volkan vs. Smith Weigh-in Results
Main Card (10 pm ET on FS1)
- Volkan Oezdemir (205.5) vs. Anthony Smith (205.5)
- Artem Lobov (145.5) vs. Michael Johnson (147)*
- Misha Cirkunov (205) vs. Patrick Cummins (205.5)
- Andre Soukhamthath (136) vs. Jonathan Martinez (135)
- Gian Villante (205.5) vs. Ed Herman (205.5)
- Alex Garcia (170.5) vs. Court McGee (170.5)
Prelims (8 pm ET on FS2)
- Nordine Taleb (170.5) vs. Sean Strickland (170.5)
- Thibault Gouti (155.5) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (156)
- Calvin Kattar (146) vs. Chris Fishgold (146)
- Sarah Moras (135.5) vs. Talita Bernardo (133)
Early Prelims (6:30 pm ET on UFC Fight Pass)
- Te Edwards (156) vs. Don Madge (154)
- Arjan Singh Bhullar (242) vs. Marcelo Golm (255.5)
- Stevie Ray (155.5) vs. Jessin Ayari (155)
* Michael Johnson was over the featherweight limit by one pound.
Tune in Saturday, Oct. 27, for UFC Moncton: Volkan vs. Smith Full Live Results. The first bout is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
