Anthony Smith is stepping in on short notice to fight former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the light heavyweight main event of the July 22 Fight Night event at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, sources confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz and Marc Raimondi.
Smith replaces Volkan Oezdemir, who ESPN is reporting will instead take on Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 on Aug. 4. ESPN was also first to report that Smith was in the running to take Oezdemir’s spot.
Oezdemir is currently in the middle of a felony battery case that saw him charged for allegedly knocking a man out in a bar in South Florida. Oezdemir was forced to give up his passport, meaning he is unable to leave the country until his trial, which has been pushed back to July 9.