Outlook: Last year saw a bit of a resurgence for a pair of former title challengers. Volkan Oezdemir found himself at a small crossroads after losing his title bid to Daniel Cormier and subsequently getting submitted by Anthony Smith. Although he dropped a split decision to Dominick Reyes, “No Time” looked back on track, which he reaffirmed in his steamrolling of Ilir Latifi and halting of the Aleksandar Rakic hype train, as Oezdemir looked as patient and powerful as ever in that bout. Glover Texeira, despite reaching 40 years old, is on his first winning streak since early-2016 with a pair of submission wins, to boot. He has an opportunity to jump back up into top contention when he faces Anthony Smith later this month. Rakic, to his credit, put his toughness on display against Oezdemir. Despite a gnarly hematoma on his leg, the 28-year-old eventually fell via split decision. It was the end of a 12-fight winning streak, but along the way, he has shown he is some new, fresh blood that has the goods to go with the hype.
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