Volkan Oezdemir (left) and Anthony Smith (right). Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Contributor (Getty Images)
They have been brought together by common pursuits in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division. Volkan Oezdemir will toe the line against the resurgent Anthony Smith in the UFC Fight Night 138 main event on Saturday at the Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, marking the organization’s first trip to the Canadian province. Meanwhile, The Ultimate Fighter 12 finalist Michael Johnson meets SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov in the three-round co-headliner at 145 pounds.
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UFC Fight Night Oezdemir vs. Smith — which airs live on Fox Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT — also features a bantamweight tilt matching Andre Soukhamthath with Jonathan Martinez, a welterweight affair pitting Alex Garcia against Court McGee and a pair of light heavyweight battles as Misha Cirkunov faces Patrick Cummins and Gian Villante tackles Ed Herman.
Fox Sports 2 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) and UFC Fight Pass (6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT) are set to share coverage of the seven-fight undercard. Among the noteworthy bouts: Nordine Taleb vs. Sean Strickland, Calvin Kattar vs. Chris Fishgold and Arjan Singh Bhullar vs. Marcelo Golm. A former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder and one of Europe’s top prospects, Fishgold will make his promotional debut on the strength of a seven-fight winning streak.
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On the regional MMA front, One Championship anchors a light schedule with “Pursuit of Greatness” on Friday at the Thuwunna Youth Training Centre Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. There, Aung La Nsang will defend his middleweight title against the unbeaten Mohammad Karaki in the main event. Elsewhere on the card, Rafael Nunes takes on Movlid Khaibulaev in the featherweight co-headliner and Luis Santos dukes it out with former Pancrase champion Daichi Abe in an intriguing welterweight showcase. The event streams live and free to the One Super App at 7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT, available on Android and iOS platforms.
