The UFC makes their debut in Chile on May 19th, 2018.
Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, will take on the last man to challenge for that title, Volkan Oezdemir on the show.
BREAKING: LHWs enter the Octagon in Chile. ??
?? @Volkan_Oezdemir looks to bounce back against the former champ ?? @ShogunRua. #UFCChile pic.twitter.com/flHSzkucpJ
— UFC (@ufc) March 21, 2018
Volkan Oezdemir vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Oezdemir (15-2, 3-1 UFC) is looking to rebound after his UFC 220 loss to Daniel Cormier. Prior to dropping the title fight in January, Oezdemir finished Jim Manuwa at UFC 214, Misha Cirkunov at Fight Night 109 and took a split-decision victory over Ovince Saint Preux at Fight Night 104.
Oezdemir was also arrested last November for aggravated battery stemming from a bar fight.
As for Shogun, he’s won 3 straight over Gian Villante, Corey Anderson, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. The 36-year-old has only fought 3x in the last 3 years, however.
Following his pair of title fights with Lyoto Machida in 2009-2010, Shogun’s career hit a low point. He dropped the title to Jon Jones at UFC 128 and promptly went on a 3W-6L skid. His current 3-fight winning streak is the first time he’s put back-to-back wins together since 2009 when he beat Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell in successive bouts.
UFC Chile May 19th, 2018
In addition to Oezdemir vs Shogun, the UFC Chile event also features the following bouts:
- Vicente Luque vs Chad Laprise (welterweight)
- Diego Rivas vs Guido Cannetti (men’s bantamweight)
- #9 Alexa Grasso vs #13 Tatiana Suarez (strawweight)
- Veronica Macedo vs Andrea Lee (women’s flyweight)
- Poliana Botelho vs Syuri Kondo (strawweight)
- Henry Briones vs Frankie Saenz (men’s bantamweight)
- Jared Cannonier vs Dominick Reyes (light heavyweight)
UFC Fight Night 129 takes place May 19th, 2018 inside the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.
More bouts are expected to be announced for the card as well. Argentinian, Santiago Ponzinibbio, has been vocal about wanting to fight on the show. He’s been pushing to take on either Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson or Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
“I would want ‘Wonderboy,’ but I think he has an injury and still has to rehab. If ‘Wonderboy’ can’t, OK, give me Cerrone. I think it’s an exciting fight for the fans. For the first time in Chile, it would be a really exciting fight I think.”
