Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson’s search for an opponent at UFC 227 on August 4th appears to have come to a surprising end.

The perennial top-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender was initially expected to possibly be getting a fight with the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold at the Los Angeles event. But all possibilities of that fell through after Rockhold injured his leg and needed to get surgery to repair it.

Now ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has come forward to report that Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir have agreed to fight on August 4th.

BREAKING: Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) and Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 227 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles, multiple sources say. UFC has been working on a fight for Gustafsson on that card for awhile, finally got one done.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 2, 2018

Volkan Oezdemir was scheduled to face Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua on July 22 in Germany, but the UFC opted to move him to UFC 227 against Alexander Gustafsson. UFC currently working on a replacement to face Shogun.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 2, 2018

BREAKING: Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) and Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 227 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles, multiple sources say. UFC has been working on a fight for Gustafsson on that card for awhile, finally got one done.

Volkan Oezdemir was scheduled to face Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua on July 22 in Germany, but the UFC opted to move him to UFC 227 against Alexander Gustafsson. UFC currently working on a replacement to face Shogun.

A big question surrounding Gustafsson’s next bout was whether or not it would be for an interim title. The reason being because of the current champion, Daniel Cormier’s divisional absence as he pursues heavyweight gold this coming Saturday at UFC 226.

For Oezdemir, his last fight came against the champion, Cormier in a losing effort at UFC 220. This is Oezdemir’s lone loss in the UFC which came after his red-hot start rattling off three top 10 wins in 2017. The loss is also only the second of his career.

It’s interesting to see that the UFC pulled Oezemir from his original bout with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua especially after it fell through the first time at UFC Chile due to Oezdemir’s visa issues.

However, sometimes you have to take away a piece in one fight to make an even better one.

 

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/2/2018