A co-main event fight between Ilir Latifi and Volkan Oezdemir has been scrapped from UFC Fight Night 153 on Saturday after Latifi suffered an injury.
Latifi is believed to have suffered a back injury yesterday and is unable to compete, and with their not being enough time to find a suitable replacement to keep Oezdemir on the card in Stockholm, Sweden, he has also been pulled from the card as well.
That means the event now proceeds with a fight between Jimi Manuwa and Alexsander Rakic now holding down the co-main event spot.
As things stand the main card now features five fights instead of the previously scheduled six, though it’s possible that may change by the time the event starts on ESPN+ tomorrow evening in Stockholm.
Latifi had been heading into the fight looking to bounce back after a loss to Corey Anderson last time out, having beaten Ovince Saint Preux and Tyson Pedro prior to that.
As for Oezdemir, the former title contender was hoping to dig himself out of a three-fight losing streak against Daniel Cormier, Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes over the past 18 months.
At this stage it’s not clear how serious Latifi’s injury is or whether the UFC will look to rebook the fight at a later date.
